Inspirational

“Letters From the Front” is a unique project that takes letters sent home from the battle front and puts them to musical scores featuring four voices and a piano. Twelve letters spanning from the Revolutionary War through the Gulf War will be transcribed.  Classical pianist and Illinois National Guard member Ian Gindes is the project’s Executive Producer. New York and Paris based composer Patrick Zimmerli will be taking the lead on composition. The idea was born out of a series [...]

Military suicide is a scourge in our nation. As someone who has never been impacted by a suicide in my family, I have always struggled to understand. Lt. Col. Angelina “Strike” Stephens opened my eyes. “Strike” had been an Air Force ambassador for suicide prevention for over a decade. She says she knew what it looked like on someone else and knew what it sounded like. In many ways, suicide became a dominant theme in her military career. The first [...]

“The Heroism and Resiliency of 9/11 – From Tragedy to Triumph” is a new documentary scheduled to be released in conjunction with the 25th anniversary of the attacks. Producer Chris Meek and Director Michael Gier join us to discuss the project. Chris experienced the attacks firsthand and was responsible for getting 29 people to safety. He would go on to found Soldier Strong, a non-profit helping Veterans by donating revolutionary medical devices. Michael is an award-winning director and founder of [...]

Taking Chance is an HBO original film that chronicles the experiences of Lt. Col. Michael Strobl while escorting the remains of fallen Marine Pvt. Chance Phelps to his hometown for burial. The film was HBO’s most watched original in five years and starred Kevin Bacon in the lead role as Mike Strobl. Pvt Phelps’s unit was providing convoy escort duty April 9, 2004 near Ar-Ramadi Iraq. The convoy came under heavy fire. Despite being wounded, Phelps continued to man his [...]

The HER Campaign was founded by Britney Higgs and her husband Sammy in 2016 after Britney returned from filming a documentary in Iraq. The mission of the HER Foundation is to help survivors of human trafficking heal, grow and find purpose. They operate shelter/recovery facilities in Billings, Montana and Denver, Colorado. Britney and Sammy were hired by a Non-Governmental Organization to produce a documentary regarding the victims of human trafficking in war torn regions. They went to Iraq right after [...]

The Fuji Fire is considered by many to be one of the most serious peacetime disasters suffered by our United States Marine Corps.  Among the 54 Marines badly burned, thirteen Marines lost their lives. Yet, many people have never heard of it. Marine Corps Veteran Chas Henry has written a book to try and remedy that situation. It is called “Fuji Fire; Sifting Ashes of a Forgotten U.S. Marine Corps Tragedy”. Chas is a combat decorated Marine Corps Veteran himself [...]

Athletes who have served in our military has always been a fascinating topic for me. Hence, I was extremely excited to read Bill Brown’s book “Wartime Athletes; Stories of Sports Stars Who Joined the US Team.”  Bill had an extensive career as a sports broadcaster including calling games for both the Cincinnati Reds and the Houston Astros. Bill also served in Vietnam as a sports broadcaster for Armed Forces Network Vietnam. They would record contests and then rebroadcast them to [...]

The Van of Valor program is the brainchild of Kevin and Lauren Wallace. Their mission is to travel to all of the lower 48 states and record the stories of at least 100 Purple Heart recipients or Gold Star families. Kevin had served in the Air Force for seven years when the opportunity came up to become a Combat Photographer. On April 3, 2011 Kevin was attached to a team of 12 cavalry scouts tasked with establishing an observation post [...]

Terry “Ranger” Johnson’s path toward fulfilling his dreams was a rocky one. His “comeback” story is one of resiliency, commitment to one’s goals and is full of messages that should inspire every one of us. Terry grew up off of a dirt road five miles outside of a tiny town in east Texas. While Terry is a dedicated patriot, he admits he joined for the money and to get out of that small town. While serving at his first [...]

Coast Guard pilot John Whiddon has been awarded two Distinguished Flying Cross medals. But the enemy he faced was not the Viet Cong or Iraqi air defenses. It was 30 foot seas, 70 knot wind gusts and freezing waters off the coast of Alaska. John was born in England and his father served in the Royal Navy.  Having finished college, he had applied for the US Coast Guard but had not received an answer. So he applied to the Royal [...]