Jack Hawkins grew up in Alabama in a community full of military veterans. His family was full of U.S. Marines so joining the corps came naturally to him. Hawkins enlisted in 1963 but immediately began a path towards becoming an officer. That included grueling summer sessions in Quantico, Virginia, and additional training before he was deployed to command an infantry platoon in Vietnam.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Hawkins takes us from officer training to commanding enlisted men with a whole lot more experience than he had. He tells us how he earned the trust and respect of those men and the importance of being close with your Marines - but not too close.

Hawkins describes the patrols he led to identify and clear enemy booby traps. But less than a month after arriving in Vietnam, he was wounded during an ambush but quickly focused attention on men who suffered more severe wounds. He also tells the story of living with guilt over a fatal incident where his men struck a mine while driving a truck.

Hawkins is now chancellor at Troy University in Alabama. In his ongoing efforts to provide students with overseas educational opportunities and to bring foreign students to Troy, Hawkins tells us about returning to Vietnam (reluctantly at first) and establishing a friendship and educational partnership with someone who had been an enemy decades ago.

Daniel "Rudy" Ruettiger grew up in a house of 14 children and his his connection with his father, a World War II veteran, was watching Notre Dame football. Rudy's dream was to play for the Fighting Irish. But his high school athetic career did not merit attention from Notre Dame and he says his grades weren't good enough to get accepted there either.

So a co-worker encouraged him to join the Navy. Rudy says his time in the U.S. Navy changed his life and made his Notre Dame dream possible.

In this edition of "Veteran's Chronicles," Ruettiger tells us about his time in the Navy, including trips to Guantanamo Bay and serving on a destroyer in the Mediterranean Sea during the Vietnam era. He explains how a conversation with an officer who graduated from Notre Dame rekindled his dream to play football. 

He then shares the tough road to get accepted into Notre Dame, how the GI Bill paid for his academic journey to get there and how his military service helped him to connect with both football coaches for the Fighting Irish.

Finally, Ruettiger walks us through life as a walk-on and the dramatic events that led to him taking the field, getting in the game, and recording a tackle in his one play from scrimmage. And he'll reveal what was real in the movie "Rudy" and where the filmmakers took some dramatic license.

If you're a fan of true crime but crave a dose of inspiration instead of tales of darkness, The Miracle Files is your perfect alternative. With the same storytelling intensity as true crime podcasts, The Miracle Files delves into the details of each miraculous story, exploring the people and circumstances that turned these moments into something unforgettable. Whether you believe in divine intervention or human perseverance, this podcast will leave you feeling uplifted and amazed.

In this episode, A father and son come face to face with an unmanned boat on a collision course in the open ocean, triggering a miraculous chain of events. Follow Sasha Scheller’s harrowing battle for survival after falling overboard without a life jacket, defying impossible odds. Discover the mystery of an unmanned vessel, a gripping fight for life, and the inspiring connections forged in the crucible of danger on the latest episode of The Miracle Files.

By his own admission, Ken Corigliano was a troubled teenager who probably had jail in his future. That all changed the day a U.S. Air Force recruiter came to his school and had plenty to say when Corigliano tried to cause trouble during his presentation. That interaction radically changed Corigliano's life and would lead him to join the Air Force and excel at aircraft maintenance, with a special focus on the MC-130 E. 

His instincts helped to save his crew members on at least two occasions. And then a non-combat brain injury would change his life immensely and lead down an unlikely path where Corigliano took on some of the toughest physical competitions in the world.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Corigliano walks us through his Air Force journey, how 9/11 changed his service and the two harrowing missions where he was under intense pressure to solve major problems on the MC-130 E in order to keep the missions on target.

He also explains the path he took to become a USAF officer and how a lack of physical conditioning almost derailed that dream.

Finally, Corigliano details his frightening brain injury sustained in a bike accident while training for the Olympic triathlon. He explains how physical fitness helped him to heal from that trauma and how it led to him competing and excelling on very difficult competitions like Beastmaster and American Ninja Warrior.

Don't miss this compelling and inspirational story.

When college wasn't working out, Mike Sarraille decided to become a U.S. Marine when he became friends with a recon Marine and was impressed by his humble confidence. Saraille also become a recon Marine as well as a sniper. But a couple years later, after being encouraged to become an officer, he entered BUD/s training and became a U.S. Navy SEAL.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," LCDR Saraille shares his memories of serving with SEAL Team 3 in Iraq, including the brutl fight for Ramadi in 2005 and 2006. He tells the devastating, awe-inspiring story of fellow SEAL MIchael Mansour, who selflessly saved the rest of his men by falling on an enemy grenade while on a rooftop in Ramadi.

He also explains the rigorous standards for advancing to DevGroup, his harrowing missions in Afghanistan, the horror of losing SEAL members on Extortion 17, and his time as a trainer back at BUD/s. Finally, Saraille discusses some of the key principles in his new book "The Everyday Warrior: A No Hack, Practical Approach to Life."

Frank DeVita joined the U.S. Coast Guard in World War II thinking his job would be to protect the American coast. But his war service would be much different than expected when the Navy decided to use Coast Guard personnel the responsibility of manning many of the landing crafts used during invasions.

DeVita was assigned to a Higgins boat headed for Omaha Beach in the early hours of D-Day, June 6, 1944. And it was his job to drop the ramp, knowing full well that many of the soldiers on his boat would be killed within seconds.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," DeVita describes what he experienced moment-by-moment in the horror of that first wave at Omaha Beach, how American ships helped the soldiers advance up the beach and the bluffs, and his role in recovering the bodies of America's fallen heroes that day.

DeVita also describes his service in the Pacific during the time of the Battle of Okinawa and the grave danger American vessels faced from Japanese kamikaze pilots.

Jack Moran joined us nearly two years ago to discuss his extensive combat as an infantryman in Europe during World War II. Today, he returns for another conversation as we hear new details about his service at the Battle of the Bulge and the Saar Valley, plus crossing the Siegfried Line and the Rhine River.

In this edition of Veterans Chronicles, Moran tells us about the deadly frustration of facing German Tiger Tanks, which inflicted devastation from Moran's very first moments in battle. He explains why the Tiger Tanks were so effective and why they were hard to counter.

Moran also takes us to the Battle of the Bulge, focusing on the six days that he and his platoon were surrounded by Germans in a very small area with no new supplies coming in and the brutally cold temperatures making simple survival a challenge. He tells us how they held off the Germans and how they eventually escaped.

He also tells us about the deadly impact of German snipers as the Americans prepared to cross the Rhine.

John "Bill" Kongable was drafted into the U.S. Army just a couple of days after graduating from high school in 1944. From there it was on to basic training and eventually being trained as a gunman for an anti-tank copmany attached to the Army's 89th Infantry Division. He would first see combat in March 1945.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Kongable describes the guns he used and how his team operated. He also offers a great amount of detail about the fiercest fight he was part of - crossing the Rhine River. He tells us about the devastating strategy the German gunners used to attack Americans trying to get across the Rhine and how the American guns ultimately prevailed.

Finally, Kongable takes us to early April 1945 when his unit was part of the liberation of the Ohrdruf concentration camp in Germany. While only there for a short time, he offers a vivid recollection of the horrors he saw there and the memories that stay with him to this day.

Robert Day joined the U.S. Marine Corps just a few months after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Soon he was being transformed into a Marine at Parris Island, and, less than three years later, he would be part of some of the most intense combat of the Iraq War during the Second Battle of Fallujah in November and December 2004. He served as a machine gunner with the 1st Battlion/8th Marines.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Sgt. Day takes on a quiet first deployment to Iraq, into the much more intense training for the second tour in Iraq, and into the gritty details of the urban combat in Fallujah when his platoon returned to the war.

Day explains the tactical approach in Fallujah, what it was like firing at the enemy while being fired upon, his role during the house-to-house combat throughout Fallujah, the mindset needed for a relentlessly intense battle that raged for weeks, and how his platoon dealt with the loss of one of its most beloved members.

It's a fascinating, detailed, and candid account of some of the toughest fighting of the Iraq War.

Sean Corrigan was commissioned as a second lieutenant when he graduated from West Point in 1988. Within just a couple of years, he saw action in both Panama and Desert Storm. Soon after that he entered the world of special operations and served there for the remainder of his career, including combat deployments in Iraq and Afghanistan and a harrowing assignment in Yemen.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Horrigan recounts what he learned as a young officer in those early conflicts, what was required physically and academically to succeed in special operations, and how his world quickly changed after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

He also takes into his missions to find and capture high-value enemy targets and rescue hostages during his time in Iraq, including the many considerations that factored into each of those daring missions.

Corrigan also shares details about his service in Yemen and the threat posed to him and others at the U.S. embassy there just days after terrorist attacks killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others in Benghazi, Libya.

Finally, Col. Corrigan explains his role as Director of Special Activities at U.S. Special Operations Command and the work he is doing now to honor special operators through the Special Operators Warrior Foundation.