Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is going to Vietnam.

We've been invited on a journey to visit locations of major battles and significant combat actions in the Vietnam War.

Some of the stories we will tell include the stories of Medal of Honor recipients Rodney Maxwell Davis and Father Vincent Capodanno.

We will visit Hue City, the site of a major battle in early 1968. To understand the battle a little better, I talked to a Marine Corps Veteran who fought every day of that battle. In this episode, a conversation with Larry Lewis from East Ridge, Tennessee.

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Several weeks ago NewsChannel 9's Josh Roe met Vietnam Air Force Veteran Mike Fish.

He is a pararescue veteran and was awarded the Air Force Cross for an action in 1969. That is the second highest honor for member of the Air Force.

Josh Roe talks to Mike Fish about his military career and dealing with survivor's guilt late in life years after the war.

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, & Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.

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Two Civil War soldiers were posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor at the White House on July 3rd.

George Wilson and Philip Shadrach were two members of the legendary Andrews Raiders. Members of the Raiders were the first soldiers in U.S. history to be awarded the Medal of Honor. From 1863 to 1883, nineteen members of the Andrews' Raiders were awarded the Medal of Honor, but for 162 years Wilson and Shadrach never received recognition for their part in the Great Locomotive Chase. On July 3, 2024, the historical record was officially corrected.

In this episode a conversation with a descendant of the Philip Shadrach family Jennifer Sweet.

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.

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The White House has announced that two Civil War soldiers will be awarded the Medal of Honor next week.

We have told you about these soldiers on several recent episodes.

George Davenport Wilson and Philip "Perry" Gephart Shadrach will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor in Washington D.C. on July 3rd.

Wilson and Shadrach were members of the legendary Andrews' Raiders and were part of every step of the mission that is known as the Great Locomotive Chase. The Raiders gained fame in 1862 when they stole a train called the General in what was then Big Shanty, Georgia. Their plan was to race north and destroy the rails between Atlanta and Chattanooga, Tennessee but due to several reasons the mission ultimately failed. Twenty-two of those Raiders were captured after the raid and jailed. Eight were executed including Shadrach and Wilson. Eight escaped from prison.

The six others were later part of a prisoner exchange and those six men were our country's first recipients of the Medal of Honor on March 25, 1863.

Over the next 20 years, of the twenty-two soldiers who were part of Andrews' Raiders were awarded the Medal of Honor.

Another solider was offered the Medal, but he was stopped by Confederates on his way to Georgia. He didn't participate in the Raid and declined the honor.

But for reasons that aren't completely understood over the 162 years since The Great Locomotive Chase Shadrach and Wilson were never honored.

So, now after generations of family members have waited and worked George Wilson and Perry Shadrach will finally be awarded the Medal of Honor.

Brad Quinlin is a historian who worked with a descendant of the Shadrach family, Ron Shadrach, to help research this case, put together nomination packets, and request the Army, the Pentagon, and the White House to once and for all correct this record and honor these 2 soldiers.

In this episode a conversation with historian and author Brad Quinlin.

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June 18th is a significant date in two Medal of Honor stories we've told you in the past on our podcast.

The 18th of June is an important date in the story of very first recipients of the Medal of Honor, Andrews' Raiders during the Civil War, and the last person to be awarded the Medal of Honor, the late Vietnam War Veteran, Captain Larry Taylor.

And both stories have major ties to Chattanooga Tennessee.

In this episode, we discuss what happened on June 18, 1863 and June 18, 1968.

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.  

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Colonel Martin Jeremy Bowling just retired from the Army after close to 30 years of service. Col. Bowling had an outstanding military career.

A few years ago, he discovered a new found interest. He helping combat veterans and family members return to the battlefields that changed their lives forever.

On this episode, Josh Roe talks to Colonel Bowling about his career and what he is working on now.

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga

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On August 26, 2021, about 170 Afghan civilians, and 13 United States Service Members were killed in a suicide bombing at the Hamid Karzi Airport in Kabul Afghanistan.

Major Katie Lunning has served as a nurse in the National Guard and the Air National Guard. She was on a deployment to Qatar at the time of the airport attack. She had just finished working a long shift when her phone rang. On the other end of that call was her doctor telling her they needed her help responding to bombing.

Major Lunning didn't just respond to the attack at the airport. She saved lives and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and named Airman of the Year by Military Times for her actions. 

I talked to Major Lunning as she was visiting Chattanooga for an event for Freedom Sings. The organization operates song writing therapy programs for veterans and members of the military.

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.

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Recently on the podcast we told the story of the two members of the legendary Andrews' Raiders from the Civil War who were overlooked for the Medal of Honor.

Those Union Soldiers were Phillip Shadrach and George Wilson.

Our last episode on this story was heavy on the Shadrach side of this story. So, this episode is all about George Davenport Wilson through a conversation with a descendant of George Wilson's family.

If you want to watch or hear our last episode on Andrews' Raiders. Here's the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKfSiFXISro&t=1s

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.

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Many times on this show we have told you about Medal Of Honor recipient, Vietnam Veteran Captain Larry Taylor.

We have told the story of what happened during the combat action in Vietnam on June 18, 1968 that action that would decades later earn Taylor the Medal of Honor.

Captain Taylor was a Cobra Helicopter pilot who landed his gunship in the middle of a firefight to save the lives of 4 men who were on the ground and in serious trouble that night.

Captain Taylor passed away in late January. Today, there is only one man still living, who knows what happened inside the cockpit of that helicopter during that mission.

In this episode Josh talks to J. O. Ratliff, as he prepares to speak at the ceremony as Captain Taylor is inducted into the U.S. Army Aviation Hall of Fame.

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162 years and still waiting: The Story Of Overlooked Civil War Heroes Shadrach and Wilson

Philip Gephart Shadrach and George Davenport Wilson were two of the legendary Andrews' Raiders in the American Civil War.

The Raiders were the first recipients of the Medal Of Honor. 19 of the soldiers were awarded the Medal Of Honor. One more was offered the Medal, but he declined. Shadrach and Wilson were the only soldiers among the Raiders who were never awarded or offered the Medal Of Honor even though they participated in every step of the mission and were executed at the hands of the Confederates for their role in the Raid.

On this episode of Tomorrow Town, Tennessee, we tell the story of what Shadrach and Wilson did during the Great Locomotive Chase during the Civil War and the people who've been working for years to get these two war heroes honored as they should have been long ago.

Show Notes:

I couldn't have told this story without the outstanding people at the Charles H. Coolidge National Medal Of Honor Heritage Center. I have learned so much about Andrews' Raiders over the last several years at events and talking with those connected to the Heritage Center. Learn more here: https://www.mohhc.org/

A BIG thank you to Brad Quinlin who you heard from in this story. Thanks to Brad for his patience in answering all my questions on all things Civil War and The Medal of Honor.

Ron Shadrach maintains a website on Shadrach and Wilson. Here you can find the packet Ron and Brad put together to send to the Army in hopes of getting them to take another look at this case. You can also find much more information on their work. Here is a link: http://shadrachandwilsonmoh.com

As far as reading material:

Stealing the General by Russell S. Bonds is outstanding.

https://www.amazon.com/Stealing-General-Great-Locomotive-Chase/dp/1594160783

Also the books by William Pittenger are super valuable in understanding the story of the Andrews' Raiders.

His first book on the Raiders is his most popular, Daring and Suffering

https://www.loc.gov/item/02020071/

He wrote a few other updated histories of the Andrews' Raiders including Capturing A Locomotive

https://www.loc.gov/resource/gdcmassbookdig.capturinglocomot00pitt_0/?st=gallery

If you have any questions on this episode or any episode of Tomorrow Town, Tennessee drop me an email at [email protected]

Tomorrow Town, Tennessee is a production of NewsChannel 9, Fox Chattanooga, and Sinclair Broadcast Group Chattanooga.

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