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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

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!

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.

Retired Army Colonel Constance Love Edwards was a nurse in Vietnam during the Vietnam War, where she treated casualties coming in from the field while facing challenges related not only to gender, but race as well. In the decades afterwards, she has worked to bring recognition to the women who served in the military. On the occasion of our partnership with Operation HerStory and our All-Female Veteran Flight on October 6, 2021, we are proud to bring you Connie's story in this special episode.

Kenny Hirata spent many of his teenage years in an Japanese-American internment camp in Arizona during WWII. After resettling in the Midwest, Hirata served his country in the infantry during the Korean War. This powerful episode explores the effect of the internment camps on Hirata and his family, and how he built a life and career that culminated in his enshrinement in the Hot Rod Hall of Fame.