Honor. Thank. Inspire. An Honor Flight Chicago Podcast

Episode 42: Jerry Sperry, One of the Korean War’s Chosin Few

Marine Corps Veteran Jerry Sperry received two Purple Heart medals for his service in the Korean War. The first came in South Korea, while the second came during the frozen Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the North. Now in his 90s, Jerry's current mission is to educate future generations about the "Chosin Few" who fought that battle.

Episode 41: Vietnam Veteran Jim Weinstein’s Mission To Find Himself

Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jim Weinstein enlisted in the Marines to escape a troubled youth full of drink and drugs. Jim endured many close calls on the battlefields of Vietnam including one that resulted in his family receiving an erroneous death notice. All of it added up to another battle with PTSD following his service. Jim says of his Honor Flight Chicago experience: "For 50 years after I got back I couldn't cry. It's now six days after my flight, and I still have a lump in my throat that I hope never goes away."

Episode 40: WWII Veteran Howard Hill And the Aftermath of Nagasaki

Howard Hill joined the Navy at 17-years-old toward the tail end of WWII. At war's end, he was on a ship bound for Japan to pick up POWs who had been housed in prison camps near Nagasaki. With camera in hand, Howard walked the streets of the city and documented first-hand the destructive power of the atom bomb.

Episode 39: Small Town America and the Vietnam War

Honor Flight Chicago alum Danny Anderson hails from Gardner, Illinois. A town of 1,400 that sits 60 miles southwest of Chicago in Grundy county, Gardner saw five of its young men not return home from Vietnam. Danny himself was wounded there. He and longtime friends Earl Fatlan and Gary Kociss -- also Vietnam veterans -- sat down with Paul Meincke to discuss their experiences.

Episode 38: WWII Veteran Bill Shoop, Witness to the Nuremberg Trials

Bill Shoop served as a teletype operator during the latter stages of World War II in Europe, first during the Battle of Bulge and later from the International Military Tribunal known as the Nuremburg Trials. Though he claims no special role in the Trials -- "I just happened to be there," he says -- Bill Shoop was quite literally a witness to history and we are proud to tell his story.

Episode 37: A Recap of Flight 103, Our Operation Education Mission

Our 103rd flight on July 20, 2022, featured 111 senior war veterans receiving their long-awaited and much-deserved Day of Honor, Thanks, and Inspiration. It also featured 13 teachers and students from our rapidly growing "Operation Education" mission that seeks to connect veterans with local schools to inspire gratitude and service among our youngest generation. This is their story.

Episode 36: Rodney Branch Plays TAPS In Combat

Rodney Branch has always been a musician. When he joined the Army in 1966, his first duty station was with the 55th Army Band in Alabama as a trumpeter and a bugler. Soon, though, he got his orders for Vietnam. There his MOS continued to be of a musical nature: Rodney Branch braved ambush and attack to fly into fire bases and perform TAPS for fallen comrades during the TET Offensive, and he never ever missed a note!

Episode 35: Mike Osika and the USS Enterprise Explosion

Mike Osika was aboard the USS Enterprise on January 14, 1969, when -- 75 miles from Pearl Harbor and in preparations to sail to Vietnam -- explosions ripped across the flight deck. Mike joined the fight on the deck to save the ship from the inferno that claimed 28 lives and injured more than 300. Years later, Mike was aboard HFC100 as an honored veteran. Following his flight, he came across a veteran interview with an old high school friend participating in HFC101 that he long thought was KIA in Vietnam. Their reunion after 52 years is a fitting capstone to this episode!

Episode 34: Lew Bottando, ”Lucky” Vietnam Veteran With Three Purple Hearts

Lew Bottando describes himself as lucky. He has been married 50 years to his high school sweetheart, and retired from a long career in the Chicago Fire Department as a battalion chief. His luck began, however, before all of that: he came home alive from the jungles of Vietnam after earning two Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts. In this episode, Lew takes us back in time to those jungles an ocean away, using language that is evocative, graphic, and at times shocking. There's also an epilogue to his story for which you must stay tuned.

Episode 33: Richie Louck, Vietnam Medic

Richie Louck served as an Army medic with the 1st Cavalry during the Vietnam War -- an assignment with a very short shelf life. In fact, he was the lone medic in his company to survive his tour. Richie also was a childhood friend of our host, Paul Meincke. The two lost touch for many decades, but have reunited in recent years. Their chemistry is obvious in this conversation that touches not only on Louck's Silver Star, Bronze Star and three Purple Hearts earned in the jungles of Cambodia, but also on baseball and friendship.