Join us as long-time ABC 7 reporter Paul Meincke sits down with our senior war heroes from WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to explore their stories and memories of serving their nation.
Episodes
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Wednesday May 18, 2022
Army Corporal Rich Bernier served "many months" on the front lines of the Korean War. One day, the bunker he had just left took a direct hit from a mortar, killing all inside. Rich received serious shrapnel wounds, recovered and came home. It was not until he and his son, Rick, traveled together on an Honor Flight Chicago mission to Washington, D.C., in 2016 that his family heard his battlefield tales.
Monday Apr 18, 2022
Monday Apr 18, 2022
In the predawn hours of April 13, 2022, 116 senior war veterans arrived at Midway International Airport to experience a day of Honor, Thanks, and Inspiration meant as a grand gesture of gratitude from a grateful nation. The life-changing trip would not only celebrate these heroes, but the more than 9,100 who came before and the thousands still waiting for their Day of Honor. This is the story of HFC100: Honor Flight Chicago's 100th mission to Washington, D.C.
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
Thursday Mar 10, 2022
The 30th episode of our moving and meaningful Honor. Thank. Inspire. podcast spotlights Luis Rodriguez, a Purple Heart veteran of the Vietnam War. His deeply personal descriptions of the conditions of battle bring all of the rawness of the jungle home, and make the story of his actual homecoming all the more heart wrenching. This is a story that is as explicitly real as it is explicitly told. Don't miss this powerful episode.
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Friday Feb 25, 2022
Clyde Wilson's first assignment after completing officer school was a command at Fort Leonard Wood with "McNamara’s Hundred Thousand." He -- like nearly all of them -- soon found himself heading to Vietnam where his eye-opening arrival foreshadowed an encounter in the field that would lead to the young first lieutenant being awarded the Silver Star.
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Monday Jan 31, 2022
Charles Nichols believes in his country's mission in Vietnam to this day. Fulfilling a life-long desire to be a United States Marine, Nichols signed up and served. When his tour of duty was complete, he returned home to Chicago and immediately found himself in another fight against rabid war protestors. Deciding it was safer for him to return to battle, Nichols volunteered for a second tour. In this Season 3 debut of Honor. Thank. Inspire., Nichols vividly describes the challenges common to so many of our Vietnam veterans.
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Tuesday Dec 28, 2021
Dr. David Grauer, DDS, joined the Navy late in WWII thanks to the urging of his father. After not seeing combat, he felt his military experience was not worthy of inclusion on an Honor Flight Chicago mission. For a man whose service to his country and his community extends from his time in uniform all the way into his 10th decade of life, he could not have been more mistaken.
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
Thursday Dec 02, 2021
Jon Lapo had a rough-and-tumble upbringing in the Madison and Central neighborhood on Chicago's West Side. Looking for direction, he enlisted in the Army and soon found himself in Vietnam as a demolition man and -- for a time -- as a tunnel rat. His experiences in-country produced trauma that he lives with to this day, but he has found a purpose in life in the present that sustains him.
Monday Nov 22, 2021
Monday Nov 22, 2021
In the absolute chaos that was Omaha Beach on D-Day, 20-year-old Ray Wagner found himself twice thrown into the water before scrambling onto the sand, death and destruction all around. He himself was wounded on that beach, but less than a month later he was back with his field artillery unit as they worked their way through Belgium, Holland, France and Germany -- where his unit came upon the Nazi concentration camp at Dachau. Irascible and with language as salty as the water he was thrown into, Ray Wagner brings D-Day and the end of the war in Europe to vivid life in our 25th episode.
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
Tuesday Nov 02, 2021
On October 6, 2021, our long-awaited Operation HerStory All-Female Veteran Flight took off bound for Washington, D.C., with 93 senior heroes aboard. Come along for the ride as Paul Meincke shares the sounds and experiences of the day through the eyes of several of the women veterans who took part in this historic mission!
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
Thursday Oct 14, 2021
WWII Army Air Corps First Lieutenant Alvin Goodman, Jr., flew 11 successful missions as a B-24 Bomber pilot before, while serving as co-pilot on his 12th, he was hit by flak and knocked out cold in the cockpit. In this episode of Honor. Thank. Inspire., Goodman describes the relatively little training pilots received before being thrown into combat, and his road to recovery after being wounded in midair. Goodman remained a flyer throughout his life, logging 25,000 hours of flight time during his career.