American Warrior Radio

Bob Willis may not be a Veteran but his heart beats passionately for those who have served. He has organized ten living history events that allow Veterans to share first hand stories with the rest of us.

The whole endeavor began when Bob and his boys watched the “Band of Brothers” series. His boys asked if it would be possible to meet some of the surviving members of Easy Company.  When an opportunity came up to attend an Easy Company reunion in Norfolk, Bob and his boys jumped at the chance. Bob gave gifts to each of the 35 surviving members. When asked how they could return the favor, Willis hosted ten of them for a dinner in his hometown of Kingston, New York. The “God and Country Veterans Living History Event” was born.

This year will be the 10th event that Willis has organized.  The event always features an amazing group of Veterans who tell their stories during the daylong conference and closing dinner.  This year’s events will feature Veterans from World War II on up to the Afghanistan war. He tries to focus on combat Veterans but occasionally will feature others who have unique stories like Irene Perbal, a member of the Dutch Resistance.  All proceeds from the event benefit the Hudson Valley National Center for Veteran Integration.

He also emphasizes the importance of sharing these stories with younger generations. Bob takes conference participants also pay visits to the local schools to share their stories.

Bob and I share our thoughts on the importance of documenting these stories so they can be shared and remembered. We all have Veterans in our community that are literally “living history”.

TAKEAWAY: “I had a choice. I didn’t have to go to war. All those men and women who fought wars before me gave me that choice.”

Veteran Powered Films was the brainchild of accomplished actress and Navy Reservist Julia Ling. Julia has starred in over twenty independent films and is best known for her roles in the NBC series “Chuck”, “E.R.”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House”. The mission of Veteran Powered Films is to empower Veterans and service members to create and tell their stories through film.

2016 was a rough year for Julia. She lost a couple of shipmates and knew several other Veterans who were struggling just like she was. Julia came to the conclusion that doing pushups to raise awareness of Veteran suicides was not sufficiently impactful. She and her partner Micah came up with the idea of helping Veterans get more involved in the film industry. Their first project was “Tango Down” and used Veterans both in front of and behind the camera.

Hiram Murray is a Marine Corps Veteran who has also pursued a career in acting. He recently played a role in the film adaptation of Jack Carr’s “The Terminal List”.  Hiram began his career in the television drama “Now and Again”. While attending film school, he worked with NYPD. When the 9/11 attacks occurred “in his back yard” he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps.   He was recruited by Julia to play a role in “Tango Down”.  He describes the support of other Veterans in the film industry as “One Team, One Fight”.  Julia adds that having some many Veterans working on a film project is advantageous because the crew automatically gels because of their shared military experience.

Julia emphasizes the organization required for making a film is very similar to military structures.  “We all take pride in accomplishing the mission.” She adds that one of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been hearing from Veterans from all around the world telling her that Veteran Powered Films inspired them to make changes in their lives.

Veteran Powered Films latest projects is a film called “Homestead”.

TAKEAWAY:  “There is nothing special about me. If I can do it, you can do it too.”

When Andra Kniep entered the US Air Force Academy, women were prohibited from flying in combat. Two months before she graduated, the rules were changed and she became the third woman assigned to fly the A-10 attack fighter.  Andra was awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals on two consecutive days and joins us as part of our partnership with the Distinguished Service Cross Society.

She chose the A-10 because her brother was a West Point graduate and she appreciated the ground support fighter mission. “When you shoot that 30 millimeter Gatling gun there is nothing like it.”

Andra was trained as an Airborne Forward Air Controller. Their role is to take control of the airspace, de-conflict airborne aircraft, communicate with ground controllers and pair aircraft with targets on the ground.

She was deployed as part of the 332nd Air Expeditionary Group in Kuwait as part of Operation Southern Watch. On March 5th, 2002 she was assigned to fly into Afghanistan in support of Operation Anaconda. It took her flight four and a half hours and two aerial refueling stops to get to the target area. Upon arriving at night in the target area, she found friendly forces on one side of a steep ravine and enemy on the other side. Because the target was difficult to spot and the proximity to friendly forces, she tucked in right behind her wingman and guided him to make the first drop on the target. She made a second pass to deploy her weapons. Following the attack they landed in in a blacked out airfield in Pakistan.

The very next day she flew to her target area and, despite being only a Captain, was given responsibility for the entire airspace. She took control of eleven different airborne platforms to make sure there were no “blue on blue” accidents and directed all air support during a very violent battle. The mission ended with Andra helping to keep a “lost” convoy from being engaged by friendly forces.

Wingmen are an aviation term used to describe a pilot who is positioned behind and outside a leader in a formation, allowing them to watch for threats to the primary aircraft. It can also refer to a person who helps, guides or supports another. Adam Lazarus’ new release “The Wingmen: The Unlikely, Unusual, Unbreakable Friendship between John Glenn and Ted Williams” is a book that both military and sports history fans will enjoy. Adam was once told to write about what he is passionate about and is the author of four other books in the sports vein.

Ted Williams is considered by many to be one of the greatest persons to play Major League Baseball. He is the last player to bat over .400 in a season and a nineteen time all-star. John Glenn began his military career as a stand-out pilot during World War II.  He became the first American to orbit the earth and would serve as a US Senator. The two men met while flying combat for the Marine Corps in Korea.

Their missions in Korea were principally ground support missions, often referred to as “Blow and Go.”  Glenn developed a reputation for coming around after a bombing run and looking for other targets to engage. This made him very unpopular with his wingmen but Williams didn’t seem to mind because he felt he could learn a lot from Glenn. Williams flew 8 missions as Glenn’s wingman.

Adam’s book sheds quite a bit of light on the controversy that seemed to surround the life of Ted Williams. He debunks the myth that Williams was a draft dodger and shows that he was actually quite the patriot. “The Wingmen” also delves quite a bit into the continuing relationship between the two men after their initial careers were over.

“The Pledge to America” author Drago Dzieran grew up under the oppressive socialist/communist government in Poland. The book describes his journey from political prisoner to a Navy SEAL. Drago says that “The Pledge to America” was not intended to be a “SEAL book”. Rather, his reasoning for writing the book was to provide a lens for fellow Americans to recognize how special our country is.

Drago had a rough upbringing in poverty and soon turned to violence as a survival mechanism. He even extorted the children of wealthy party members to bring extra food to school for the children who had nothing to eat. Visits from the secret police were not uncommon.

Drago cites an example of how government controlled everything. When his father deserted his family, his mother sought to move closer to her relatives. She had to get permission from the government to make the move.

After being thrown in prison for his involvement in an underground anti-government newspaper, he was eventually released and applied for political asylum in America. When he finally arrived in the United States, all he had was a bag of clothes and ten cents in his pocket. He has high praise for the church members who took him in and supported his transition. He cites this kindness as the inspiration that made him want to be the best American citizen he could be.

When the U.S. was attacked, Drago felt compelled to join the military as a way of repaying the freedoms that America had granted him. He served 20 years in the Navy and developed new breaching methods that are used to this day. He also founded the Navy SEALS Fund.

The Pledge to America is a great read with the perfect combination of humor, inspiration and cautionary tales.

TAKEAWAY: “My chance to live as a free man is ONLY possible because of the ideals the founding fathers fought for and have been carried forward to this day by Americans. I would like to say thank you to all Americans for my freedom.”