Claim OwnershipHonor. Thank. Inspire. An Honor Flight Chicago Podcast
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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.
92 Episodes
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The Battle of Ia Drang in November of 1965 was the first major battle between the U.S. Army and the North Vietnamese Army during the Vietnam War. The engagement -- which resulted in 237 dead and 258 wounded on the American side -- spawned a critically acclaimed book and a major motion picture detailing the events around Landing Zones X-Ray and Albany. Lieutenant Bob Konrardy was there. This is his story.
Carl Adams spent the Vietnam War walking his dog. As an Air Force sentry dog handler at Phan Rang Air Base, Carl's job was to patrol the perimeter each night to defend against sappers and other attacks. The adventures of Carl and his sentry dog, Andy, were often entertaining, sometimes irreverent, and occasionally terrifying -- but above all else, the K9 unit was known for its dedication and professionalism in the field.
In May of 1969, Jim Miller was badly wounded in a sapper attack on his firebase near the infamous "Hamburger Hill." In the months that followed, Jim had to re-learn how to walk. He also sought to learn exactly what had happened that day, a process that took far longer.
On May 9, 1968, Marine Corps L/Cpl Timothy Fitzmaurice was killed in action in Thua Thien Province, Vietnam. His sisters, Ellen Shea and Maureen Schiesser, remember in vivid detail the subsequent knock on the door at their family home. More than 57 years later, Ellen and Maureen joined HFC123 as our inaugural Gold Star Family participants to honor their brother's sacrifice as well as their own.
By the age of 18, James Cox knew he wanted to fly helicopters. In 1969 he arrived in Vietnam as a Huey gunship pilot, an assignment full of risk considering over one-third of all Hueys in combat were shot down during the war. After his tour, he was assigned as an instructor pilot back in the United States. There he found flying with his students to be too dangerous for his taste -- so he requested a second tour back in Vietnam.
Army SP5 Tom Messenger served as a flight engineer on a Chinook in the early 1970s, flying "dozens and dozens" of missions ferrying men and supplies into Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos. While some of those missions were uneventful "milk runs" as Tom says, many were not. He wrote a book about his experiences in Vietnam, and he shares some of his stories with us here.
Air Force SSgt Donald Beach's job in Vietnam was, in part, loading body bags onto planes heading back to the States. Between that and the wounds he suffered during a rocket attack on his base, Don developed strong feelings about his service. When he was greeted by protestors upon his return home, Don was so upset that he wrote a letter to his Congressman -- a letter so powerful it was entered into the Congressional Record.
Johnnie Williams received a bit of advice as he arrived in Vietnam: Don't get too close to the soldiers you are fighting with. He found out why on his very first mission in the jungle, and again and again throughout his tour. As Johnnie came to understand, though, heeding that advice was much easier said than done.
Don Hendrick grew up in the Cabrini-Green Housing Project and joined the Army after repeated run-ins with the law. On the battlefields of Vietnam he distinguished himself, earning the Bronze Star with V device. Upon his return home, though, he was told "nobody cares." Years of substance abuse followed, but Don's story did not end there. In this raw and honest episode, Don details the road he took to "get busy living."
Sergeant Don Taylor had a background in music when he entered the service. Armed with an FCC license, Taylor was the perfect recruit to join the Armed Forces Vietnam Network as a disc jockey spinning the soundtrack of the Vietnam War. Here he shares old clips from his shows and the music meant to give our service men and women a taste of home.
Richard O'Connor earned a Bronze Star for his heroics on the battlefield one early April day in 1969, a fact that only came to light back home when his mom found the medal in his duffle bag. Dick did not want the attention as he dealt with the lasting emotional scars of service. Dick credits his wife, Patricia, with helping him deal with those scars, beginning with her letters to him in Vietnam through to the present day.
Dr. John Wander was drafted in 1967, certain he was headed to Vietnam where surgeons like himself were in great demand. Instead, he was assigned to an Army base eight miles from the DMZ in South Korea. As the base's Chief Surgeon, he used his authority to benefit not just those assigned there but to deliver much-needed care to hundreds of Koreans in the surrounding areas.
Army E4 Ken Burmeister saw friends wounded and killed during his time in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. He returned home and turned to alcohol to help process his experiences in combat. Now sober, his post-war healing received a boost after a surprise reunion decades later with a wounded friend, and from his efforts to track down the student author of an anonymous letter he received on his Honor Flight Chicago trip in October of 2024.
Robert Gurley and James Blue can't agree on when they first met, but what they can agree on is they have been the best of friends since childhood. When Robert was "snatched off the street and sent to Vietnam," it didn't take James long to enlist to follow his friend. Through the barbs and bonds that all good friends share, Robert and James have another commonality: helping each other through the post-war trauma of service in Vietnam.
When a young Catholic priest saw many of his parishioners being sent to war in Vietnam, he felt it was his duty to serve as well. It took Father Richard Shannon years of lobbying, but eventually, he was granted permission to enlist. During his tour of duty, Father Shannon said mass and ministered to countless troops, including at LZs deep in the jungles of Vietnam.
Stuart Poticha, the youngest surgeon on faculty at Northwestern, received a phone call from a Colonel informing him he was going straight to Vietnam before his draft card ever arrived. At Basic Training, he couldn't hit a target feet from his face and generally refused calisthenics. His antics -- and those of his fellow doctors -- were tolerated only because "court-martialing a surgeon caused too much paperwork." But Stu Poticha could save lives. And the 12th Evac Hospital in Vietnam, where he was Chief of Surgery, did that better than anyone else.
Jerry Zabel was born in Munich, Germany, to a mother and father who barely survived Nazi concentration camps. The young family emigrated to the United States and Jerry found his parents always reluctant to talk about their experiences during WWII. When the Vietnam War broke out, Jerry's off-the-charts intelligence and insatiable curiosity about the nature of war drove him to enlist—and soon the realities became all too real.
Air Force Captain Dave Adams was an F-4 Phantom fighter pilot in Vietnam, flying more than 200 missions over North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. A long-time member of the Honor Flight Chicago volunteer interview team, it's time for us to tell Dave's own remarkable life story.
In Episode 47 of this podcast, we profiled long-time Welcome Home flag line member Sonny Zdancewicz, whose bravery in Vietnam earned him three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts. Only recently did he become interested in receiving those medals at the urging of his family, and at the same time decided that it was time for his own Day of Honor. That day came on July 24, 2024, and you can travel along with him in this special episode.
Robert Gatenby had just married his wife of 56 years, Diane, when his draft notice arrived. During his service in Vietnam, Bob experienced the darkest moments war can bring. To protect his wife and parents, however, Bob's steady stream of letters home never let on to the danger he faced. This is a story of how war changes those who fight, and how love can conquer all.
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