Veterans Chronicles

Jason Redman learned love of country and the importance of service at a young age. His grandfather was a decorated World War II veteran and his father served during the Vietnam War. Before finishing high school, Redman enlisted in the U.S. Navy with one goal in mind: becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Redman tells us about the unexpected health challenge he faced in boot camp before he could pursue his dream of becoming a SEAL. He then walks us through Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUD/S) training, why so many...

Dick Ramsey's family had it tough lduring the Great Depression. He quit school when he was 15 years old and started working at the Brooklyn Navy Yard as a pipefitter. After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he started helping to build battleships. In 1943, Ramsey joined the U.S. Navy and was assigned as coxswain on the USS Nevada.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Ramsey takes us through training to the Nevada's involvement in the D-Day landings in Normandy, Iwo Jima, and Okinawa. He also reveals several very close calls while in the Pacific and reveals the immense h...

On August 26, 2021, an ISIS-K terrorist attack killed 13 American service members and wounded many others at Abbey Gate outside Kabul International Airport in Afghanistan. Scores of Afghan civilians were also killed and wounded. Nine of the American service members killed that day were U.S. Marines from G Company, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marines. Their company commander was then-Captain Geoffrey Ball.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Major Ball takes us through the chaos the company found when it arrived in Afghanistan on August 19. He tells about the heroic efforts of his unit and many others to establish as much...

Mike Elmore was born in Illinois into a family with a legacy of military service. He joined the U.S. Army in 1987 with no immediate intention of pursuing special forces. But he loved the idea of a new challenge, passed selection and qualifying, and earned his Green Beret. By the time of the 9/11 Al Qaeda terrorist attacks, Elmore was part of Operational Detachment (ODA) 595, a group that would later become known as the Horse Soldiers.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Elmore walks us through qualifying and explains why being mentally tough is just as important as physical...

Bob Boeke was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Nearly two years later, he enlisted in the U.S. Army as part of a program to help get a college education and become an officer. But the program soon closed down. After basic training, Boeke was assigned to an intelligence and reconnaissance unit within the 86th Infantry Division.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Boeke tells us about intelligence and reconnaissance training, finding and removing German mines on the Normandy beaches, dealing with German mortar fire on the way to the front, and what...

Michael "Rod" Rodriguez was born into a family with a rich legacy of military service. His father and grandfather both served during wartime. Rod decided he wanted to serve after watching what the U.S. military accomplished in Operation Desert Storm.

Within months of enlisting in 1992, he was off to Somalia. A couple of years later, Rodriguez decided to pursue Army Special Forces and then became a sniper and a medic. All of that prepared him well for three deployments in Afghanistan following the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Rodriguez tells us about...

Steve Bleigh is the son and grandson of Army veterans. He joined the U.S. Army in 1986, fully expecting to be an infantryman throughout his service. When he returned to civilian life eighteen years later, Bleigh had spent 14 years in Army Special Forces and was a veteran of Afghanistan, Iraq, the Gulf War, and the conflict in Somalia.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, MSG Bleigh tells us about his service in the Gulf War with the 82nd Airborne Division and the lessons he learned there that helped the rest of his years in uniform. Then he talks...

Dominick Critelli was born in Italy and came to the United States as a child. He was 20 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and launched the U.S. into World War II. Critelli became an airplane mechanic as part of the U.S. Army's 95th infantry Division. 

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Critelli tells us what the toughest part of basic training was for him and how his sergeant handled his complaint. He also shares what it was like arriving at Utah Beach not long after D-Day operations and the moment of engineering inspiration that t...

Russell Sattazhan was 15 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor and forced the U.S. into World War II. in 1944, he  was drafted and was placed in an infantry replacement unit. Replacements were needed so badly that training was cut short and Sattazhan's unit was sent to Europe and folded into the Army's 1st Infantry Division in January 1945. Two months later, Sattazhan's war would be over after suffering a severe wound from a German attack.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sattazhan tells us what it was like being rushed into combat, dealing with the brutal winter i...

In the early 1960's, the U.S. Army developed a new way of moving troops into and out of strategic locations. It was called Air Cavalry and operated under the theory that moving forces by helicopter was faster and more precise than driving them or having them jump out of airplanes. One of the earliest and best known Air Cavalry engagements came in the Vietnam War at Landing Zone X-Ray during the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965.

Earnie Savage was part of Bravo company in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry of the 1st Air Cavalry Division. Shortly...

Patrick Brady was born in South Dakota and he originally had no intention of serving in the military. He was recruited by several schools to play college football, but he decided to pursue the "foxy chick" from his hometown as she went to Seattle University. The school did not have a football team, but it did have mandatory ROTC. Brady hated it and even got kicked out. But he was given a second chance and did much better. 

After commissioning, Brady was stationed in Berlin, Germany, at the time the Berlin Wall went up, and he served two t...

Clarence Singleton joined the U.S. Marine Corps in 1967 while was still in high school. The valedictorian then went through boot camp at Parris Island and was eager to join the fight in Vietnam. He arrived in early 1968 and endured a major rocket attack on his first night there. He would be seriously wounded just days before his tour in Vietnam was set to end.

Several years later, he joined the New York City Fire Department and ended up responding to both terrorist attacks against the World Trade Center in 1993 and 2001.

In this edition of Veterans...

Steve Kofron's father and grandfather both served in the military. His grandfather was a U.S. Marine who fought at Iwo Jima. But Kofron had his own reasons for joining the service and the U.S. Army in particular. After a few years, he successfully completed Ranger training. But a short time later he pursued U.S. Army Special Forces and earned his Green Beret. Not long after that, the 9/11 terrorist attacks struck the United States and Operational Detachment Alpha (ODA) 595 was among the first units deployed to Afghanistan.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Kofron gives us...

Bob Ingram joined the Navy after graduating high school in 1963 to give himself some direction. He was initially assigned to work in electronics, but after getting a bad case of pneumonia, Ingram was so impressed by the dedication of the Navy corpsmen, that he decided to become one. Corpsman training was long and demanding and Marine Corps aid training followed that. 

After struggling to find a good Marine unit to join, Ingram was off to Vietnam in late 1965 - attached to C Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. They saw a lot of action right f...

Nils Mockler joined the U.S. Marine Corps at the age of 17, only because they wouldn't let him join when he was 16. Upon enlisting in 1944, Mockler completed boot camp and was soon tapped as a combat intelligence scout. He also dabbled in explosives as you'll hear. After more training in Hawaii, Mockler and many other Marines left for Iwo Jima, where they would land in February 1945 and become part of one of the most vicious battles in the entire war.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Mockler takes us on board his ship as the battle plans were...

Sami Steigmann was born in Romanian controlled territory in December 1939. Before he turned two years old, he was a prisoner at the Mogilev-Podolski concentration camp. He was five when the war ended, but the impact of the Holocaust on his family and his own life carry on to this day. 

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Steigmann, shares the horrible conditions of his father's childhood, how Romania started as a Soviet ally but then aligned with Nazi Germany, and what life was like under both.

Steigmann then explains the brutal conditions at Mogilev-Podolski and the desperate e...

Matt Smith grew up on Long Island and joined Army ROTC at the University of Delaware in 1989. Four years later, he was commissioned as an officer. Smith was working in the private sector and serving in the Army National Guard when the 9/11 terrorist attacks were perpetrated by Al Qaeda in 2001. Over the next two decades, Smith would be leading soldiers into combat during the invasion of Iraq and on two deployments in Afghanistan.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Smith takes us through the rapid invasion in Iraq and how he first learned about improvised explosive devices. He...

Ed Miklavic was one of 12 children and he ended up joining the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1940 because he tagged along with his brother and a friend to the Army recruiter. But Ed was better qualified than both of them. This was before the U.S. entered World War II, and the Army didn't even have a current uniform to give Miklavcic. Nonetheless, he headed out west for training and was stationed at Pearl Harbor's Wheeler Field leading up to the Japanese attacks on December 7, 1941.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Miklavcic tells us what his duties...

William Keim joined the U.S. Merchant Marine in 1943 at the age of 17. He was called to active duty when he turned 18 years old that same year. For the next two years, he served as an oilerman on Liberty Ships in both the Atlantic and the Pacific theaters, transporting critical supplies and evading constant enemy efforts to sink their ships.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Keim tells all about the Liberty Ships and his role in keeping the engines running smoothly. He details the constant threat of German U-Boats in the North Atlantic, what the American vessels...

Sydney Levit was 17 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. Like most kids his age, he was eager to serve. In 1943, Levit was drafted into the U.S. Army and he soon had the opportunity to join the airborne, training as a paratrooper and also with gliders. He became part of the 17th Airborne Division.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Levit describes the rigorous training he went through as part of the airborne, including his first jump out of an airplane and learning how gliders work. He then explains how his unit spent months training in...

Ralph Gastelum grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and never experienced much of a winter before joining the U.S. Marine Corps. His first real winter would be spent in Korea in some of the most bitterly cold temperatures that American forces have ever experienced - at Chosin Reservoir in Korea.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sgt. Gastelum recalls the Inchon Landing. He also explains what urban combat was like in those early days and along the front lines in more rural areas. He also tells us how he survived at Chosin Reservoir by playing dead as the...

Handlon Tim "Bear" Handlon wanted to serve in the military after seeing the 9/11 terrorist attacks unfold on television. There was just one problem. He was only in eighth grade. After a football scholarship to Yale and a few years in the private sector, Handlon went to Navy Officer Candidate School with a goal of becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Handlon takes us through BUD/s training in great detail. He explains how 200 guys were whittled down to less than 20 within just a few weeks. He also reveals the toughest parts of...

Edward Byers became fascinated with the military - and Navy SEALs in particular - through books and movies in his younger years. He joined the U.S. Navy and, just a few months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, began SEAL training. His service would then bring him face to face with our enemies on multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Byers takes us through the mentally and physically grueling experience of BUD/s training to become a SEAL and his deployments to Iraq. And Byers walks us through the harrowing and costly mission...

Vaughn Collicott spent the first year of his life traveling in a covered wagon. Before he was 21 years old, he was helping to fire the guns of a Navy destroyer at German positions on the coast of Normandy. The very same day, his ship was hit and sunk in the English Channel.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Collicott takes us from the frigid confines of training at Great Lakes, Illinois, to D-Day, to serving in the Pacific during the final months of the war.

Collicott tells us about going though fire control training and then...

Joe "Peppy" Sciarra was drafted into the U.S. Army the day after he graduated from high school. All four boys in his family served during World War II. After basic training, Sciarra was assigned to the Army's 25th Infantry Division, known as "Tropic Lightning." He was then ordered to be part of a heavy weapons platoon operating 81 millimeter mortars. The weapon would be critical to the U.S. driving the Japanese off of 47 separate ridges on the island of Luzon in the Philippines over five months in 1945.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sciarra explains how the 81...

Joseph Picard was a teenager when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941. Unlike some of his peers, Picard was neither excited to join the service nor dreading it. He just accepted that he would need to serve.

After completing basic training, Picard was assigned to the 552nd Field Artillery Battalion, working with the massive 240mm guns. The battalion was held out of D-Day operations and landed at Utah Beach in late June 1944.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Picard takes us through all the work involved in assembling and operating the 240mm guns. He also...

Don Graves tried to enlist in the U.S. Marine Corps the day after President Franklin Roosevelt declared the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor a day of infamy. Since he was only 16 years old, Graves had to wait another six months to enlist. When he did, he went through basic training in California and was soon assigned as a flamethrower operator in the 2nd Battalion, 28th Regiment, 5th Marine Division.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Graves recounts the harrowing landing during the third wave at Iwo Jima, getting pinned down in the water, what they had to...

Ed Hiner had no intention of joining the military until a friend's father forced him to help a military family in need. During that experience, Hiner met a Navy SEAL, learned about what the SEALs do, and immediately knew that's what he wanted to do with his life. Hiner joined the Navy, qualified for BUD/s training, and was one of just 10 SEAL candidates in his class to graduate.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Hiner takes us through BUD/s training - from how his life abruptly changed the moment he arrived at Coronado to the mental...

Patrick Zilliacus was born in Finland and came to the U.S. when his father became the Finnish military attache in Washington, primarily to procure weapons for Finland's war with Russia. Left on his own in the U.S. at age 16, Zilliacus worked in a steel mill before joining the U.S. Navy in 1943. He was assigned as a torpedo man on a brand new submarine, the USS Spot.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Zilliacus explains how he was almost killed when the USS Spot went out for "shakedown" after commissioning. He also details what it was l...

Ltt Gen. Marc Sasseville was born into an Air Force family and that played a significant role in his decision to attend the U.S. Air Force Academy and become an Air Force officer. After 14 years on active duty, Sasseville shifted to the Air National Guard in 1999 and also became a commercial airline pilot.

On September 11, 2001, Sasseville was serving with the 113th Wing of the District of Columbia Air National Guard at Andrews Air Force base when Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four airliners. Once the second plane struck the World Trade Center, Sasseville and everyone else on base...

Andrew Card served more than five years as White House Chief of Staff for President George W. Bush. Less than eight months into Bush's first term, Al Qaeda terrorists hijacked four U.S. airliners. Two were flown into each of the twin towers of the World Trade Center. Another was used to crash into the Pentagon. The fourth plane was headed to Washington, but was forced down in a Pennsylvania field by the heroic passengers of United Flight 93.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Mr. Card takes us moment by moment as he learned the disasters in New...

Timothy Brown was serving as supervisor of field operations in New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani's office of emergency management on September 11, 2001. He was already at work near the World Trade Center when terrorists flew the first plane into the North Tower. He was in the lobby of that building when he got word that a second plane controlled by terrorists struck the South Tower. He immediately rushed over there. Less than an hour later, the South Tower collapsed while Timothy Brown was still inside.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Brown walks us from when he heard...

Christopher Brewer grew up as an Army brat and enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1973 because he wanted to be a Ranger. Even though he had never jumped out of a plane prior to joining the Army, Brewer learned quickly and passed the rest of his training to become a Ranger. He later took on and successfully completed intense training while serving overseas that served him very well in Special Forces.

In 1989, he was deployed to Colombia to assist government forces fighting against the drug cartels. The next year, he was in Panama, dealing with the volatile...

Tom Young grew up on his family's farm in North Carolina. From a young age he was fascinated by his grandfather's stories of being part of a bomber crew during World War II. That helped to spark his interest in both flying and in service. Young served in the Maryland and West Virginia Air National Guard, serving as flight engineer for C-130 Hercules and C-5 Galaxy transport planes. Missions took him to the war zones in both Iraq and Afghanistan. He is also a military novelist and his latest work is The Mapmaker, which focuses on the French Resistance during W...

Hilbert Margol was the first of twin boys born to his parents in February 1924. He was nearly finished with high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. Soon, Margol and his brother, Howard, were in the Army, training on 105 mm howitzers with the 42nd Infantry Division. They saw their first combat in southern France in January 1945. After that, they fought into Germany, crossed the Rhine River, and helped liberate the Dachau concentration camp near Munich.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Margol explains how his Jewish family was very concerned about the advancement of Nazi forces...

Walter Stitt, Jr. was a senior in high school when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He and his friends all assumed they'd be drafted. When that did not happen right away, Stitt enlisted in the Army. He was eventually assigned as a gunner for a tank crew in E company, 33rd armored regiment, 3rd armored division and joined the war just a month after D-Day.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Stitt will tell us how he was injured on his first day in combat but pushed back into action the very next day. He describes...

Alan Kinder was waiting to be drafted into the military during World War II, but when he arrived at the Army recruiter, he was told his eyesight was too poor. The next time he tried to join, his eyesight wasn't any better. This time, the Army took him anyway.

Kinder was trained in sound ranging as part of the 14th Field Artillery Observation Battalion. His job was to determine how far away the enemies were and what vehicles they might have with them. The battalion landed at Utah Beach just a few weeks after D-Day. Months later it...

Hal Urban grew up in a poor family hit hard by the Great Depression. Joining the military meant he would finally get three meals per day. He enlisted in the Army hoping to become a pilot, but less than perfect eyesight scuttled those dreams. He was trained on .50 caliber guns mounted on haltracks to protect American tanks and other convoys. Assigned to the 11th Armored Division, Urban arrived in Europe in late 1944 and was quickly sent to fight in the Battle of the Bulge.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Sgt. Urban explains what combat was like with...

Join Emily Jones and Holly Worthington as they dive into this heart wrenching story of a child abduction. Five-year-old Bella was taken by someone her family trusted — a man they never expected, their father's roommate: Bill Mix. In a matter of moments, a normal day turned into every parent’s worst nightmare. As the Amber Alert spread across California and panic set in, one woman hundreds of miles away — Leisa Hilton in Utah — felt something was deeply wrong.

LISTEN HERE: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-miracle-files/id1714203488

Kelly Elmlinger was a three-sport athlete in high school. She excelled in cross country, basketball, and track. After considering military service, she decided to keep playing sports at the next level, but she quickly decided college was not for her. That's when she joined the Army and became a combat medic, eventually with the 82nd Airborne Division, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, she became a nurse and then a cancer patient herself. Yet even after losing a leg, Elmlinger persevered and represented the U.S. at the Paralympic Games just a few years later.

In this...