Honor. Thank. Inspire. An Honor Flight Chicago Podcast

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Join us as long-time ABC 7 reporter Paul Meincke sits down with our senior war heroes from WWII, the Korean War and the Vietnam War to explore their stories and memories of serving their nation.

Honor Flight Chicago


    • May 22, 2025 LATEST EPISODE
    • monthly NEW EPISODES
    • 37m AVG DURATION
    • 85 EPISODES


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    Latest episodes from Honor. Thank. Inspire. An Honor Flight Chicago Podcast

    Episode 85: Vietnam Combat Veteran Johnnie Williams

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2025 44:28


    Johnnie Williams received a bit of advice as he arrived in Vietnam: Don't get too close to the soldiers you are fighting with. He found out why on his very first mission in the jungle, and again and again throughout his tour. As Johnnie came to understand, though, heeding that advice was much easier said than done.

    Episode 84: Bronze Star Veteran Don Hendrick's Road to Recovery

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 28, 2025 50:01


    Don Hendrick grew up in the Cabrini-Green Housing Project and joined the Army after repeated run-ins with the law. On the battlefields of Vietnam he distinguished himself, earning the Bronze Star with V device. Upon his return home, though, he was told "nobody cares." Years of substance abuse followed, but Don's story did not end there. In this raw and honest episode, Don details the road he took to "get busy living."

    Episode 83: Sergeant Don Taylor "From the Delta to the DMZ" With AFVN

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2025 40:43


    Sergeant Don Taylor had a background in music when he entered the service. Armed with an FCC license, Taylor was the perfect recruit to join the Armed Forces Vietnam Network as a disc jockey spinning the soundtrack of the Vietnam War. Here he shares old clips from his shows and the music meant to give our service men and women a taste of home.

    Episode 82: Richard O'Connor's Heroism and the Power of Love

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2025 43:30


    Richard O'Connor earned a Bronze Star for his heroics on the battlefield one early April day in 1969, a fact that only came to light back home when his mom found the medal in his duffle bag. Dick did not want the attention as he dealt with the lasting emotional scars of service. Dick credits his wife, Patricia, with helping him deal with those scars, beginning with her letters to him in Vietnam through to the present day.

    Episode 81: Dr. John Wander's Work With Korean Orphans

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 28, 2025 33:09


    Dr. John Wander was drafted in 1967, certain he was headed to Vietnam where surgeons like himself were in great demand. Instead, he was assigned to an Army base eight miles from the DMZ in South Korea. As the base's Chief Surgeon, he used his authority to benefit not just those assigned there but to deliver much-needed care to hundreds of Koreans in the surrounding areas.

    Episode 80: Ken Burmeister's Healing Journey

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2025 38:42


    Army E4 Ken Burmeister saw friends wounded and killed during his time in the jungles of Vietnam and Cambodia. He returned home and turned to alcohol to help process his experiences in combat. Now sober, his post-war healing received a boost after a surprise reunion decades later with a wounded friend, and from his efforts to track down the student author of an anonymous letter he received on his Honor Flight Chicago trip in October of 2024.

    Episode 79: Robert Gurley and James Blue, From Childhood Bond to Veteran Brotherhood

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2024 51:45


    Robert Gurley and James Blue can't agree on when they first met, but what they can agree on is they have been the best of friends since childhood. When Robert was "snatched off the street and sent to Vietnam," it didn't take James long to enlist to follow his friend. Through the barbs and bonds that all good friends share, Robert and James have another commonality: helping each other through the post-war trauma of service in Vietnam.

    Episode 78: Vietnam War Combat Chaplain Father Richard Shannon

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2024 34:14


    When a young Catholic priest saw many of his parishioners being sent to war in Vietnam, he felt it was his duty to serve as well. It took Father Richard Shannon years of lobbying, but eventually, he was granted permission to enlist. During his tour of duty, Father Shannon said mass and ministered to countless troops, including at LZs deep in the jungles of Vietnam.

    Episode 77: Stuart Poticha and M*A*S*H in the Vietnam Era

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 4, 2024 41:45


    Stuart Poticha, the youngest surgeon on faculty at Northwestern, received a phone call from a Colonel informing him he was going straight to Vietnam before his draft card ever arrived. At Basic Training, he couldn't hit a target feet from his face and generally refused calisthenics. His antics -- and those of his fellow doctors -- were tolerated only because "court-martialing a surgeon caused too much paperwork." But Stu Poticha could save lives. And the 12th Evac Hospital in Vietnam, where he was Chief of Surgery, did that better than anyone else.

    Episode 76: Vietnam Vet Jerry Zabel's Intelligence of War

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 18, 2024 42:21


    Jerry Zabel was born in Munich, Germany, to a mother and father who barely survived Nazi concentration camps. The young family emigrated to the United States and Jerry found his parents always reluctant to talk about their experiences during WWII. When the Vietnam War broke out, Jerry's off-the-charts intelligence and insatiable curiosity about the nature of war drove him to enlist—and soon the realities became all too real.

    Episode 75: F-4 Phantom Pilot Dave Adams

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 3, 2024 32:37


    Air Force Captain Dave Adams was an F-4 Phantom fighter pilot in Vietnam, flying more than 200 missions over North Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia. A long-time member of the Honor Flight Chicago volunteer interview team, it's time for us to tell Dave's own remarkable life story.

    Episode 74: Sonny's Sequel: Zdancewicz Receives His Day of Honor

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 9, 2024 43:38


    In Episode 47 of this podcast, we profiled long-time Welcome Home flag line member Sonny Zdancewicz, whose bravery in Vietnam earned him three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts. Only recently did he become interested in receiving those medals at the urging of his family, and at the same time decided that it was time for his own Day of Honor. That day came on July 24, 2024, and you can travel along with him in this special episode.

    Episode 73: Bob Gatenby's Vietnam Tale of Love and War

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 11, 2024 46:39


    Robert Gatenby had just married his wife of 56 years, Diane, when his draft notice arrived. During his service in Vietnam, Bob experienced the darkest moments war can bring. To protect his wife and parents, however, Bob's steady stream of letters home never let on to the danger he faced. This is a story of how war changes those who fight, and how love can conquer all.

    Episode 72: D-Day Veteran Dick Rung Returns To France

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 19, 2024 37:21


    On June 6, 1944, Richard "Dick" Rung was aboard LCT 539 as it attempted repeatedly to land at Omaha Beach in Normandy among fierce German resistance. The memories of what he saw and experienced that day remain vivid, even as he approaches his 100th birthday and especially as he traveled to France to commemorate the 80th anniversary of D-Day.

    Episode 71: Ken Molnaire and Patton's Third Army

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 14, 2024 29:48


    While Ken Molnaire was working as an usher at the Des Plaines Theater in 1941, news broke of the Japanese bombing at Pearl Harbor. Though Ken had never heard of this faraway location, the attack there set into motion world events that would send Ken across the pond to Europe as an integral member of Patton's Third Army.

    Episode 70: Our D.C. Guardians

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 18, 2024 31:40


    In July of 2024, we celebrate the 11,000th senior war hero Honor Flight Chicago has brought to our nation's capital -- the most of any hub in the nation. How do we fly so many veterans while giving them all a personal 1-on-1 Guardian for the day? Our dedicated, selfless volunteers who live in the Washington D.C. area. This is their story.

    Episode 69: Vietnam Purple Heart Veteran Tom Brown

    Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2024 40:45


    Tom Brown served as an infantryman in Vietnam, where he faced frequent and ferocious firefights as a member of the Big Red One. About six months into his tour, his unit was ambushed near the Cambodian border and Tom was severely wounded by a grenade. He describes his journey from there in today's episode.

    Episode 68: The Music of the Vietnam War

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 25, 2024 54:15


    The Vietnam War had a soundtrack. For the men and women in-country, music -- and often one specific song -- provided an escape and a connection to "the world." Join Paul Meincke as he listens in to a recent talk by Doug Bradley, co-author of "We Gotta Get Out Of This Place: The Soundtrack of the Vietnam War."

    Episode 67: Master of the Air Richard Bushong

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 8, 2024 46:22


    On March 6, 1944, Richard Bushong was at the controls of a B-17 Flying Fortress as part of the first daylight bombing raid to reach Berlin during WWII. The air armada that day stretched for 94 miles in the sky and inflicted heavy damage on the Nazis -- but at an alarming cost to the Allied forces as well.

    Episode 66: The 2 Sides Project

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2024 46:02


    On December 7, 1966, Air Force Captain John W. Carlson was shot down near Bien Hoa. To this day, he remains listed as Missing in Action. He left behind a wife and two young daughters, Margot and Kim, who struggled to grasp the depth of their loss. While they continue to search for his final resting place, Margot also founded the 2 Sides Project, which unites children whose fathers died fighting each other to bring about understanding and lasting healing. This is their story.

    Episode 65: Donald Talbot's Fight to Live in Vietnam

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 1, 2024 46:45


    As a teenager in Vietnam, Donald Talbot was involved in a firefight so intense that many of his fellow Marines were killed. Himself badly wounded, Talbot emerged from unconsciousness with the realization that his hands were being bound together. He quickly understood that to stay alive he would have to play dead -- and that was just the beginning of his fight for survival.

    Episode 64: A Son's Career of Service Honors His Father

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2024 37:13


    Russel McClintock served over three decades in the Navy, beginning during the Vietnam War and continuing through and beyond the first Gulf War. That service was -- in part -- meant to honor the father whose name he shares. Russel McClintock, Sr., was a B-26 gunner in WWII when his plane was shot down over Italy, leading to his capture and eventual incarceration in the infamous Stalag 17B. When Russel the son traveled on HFC112 last year, he did so to honor both McClintocks.

    Episode 63: William Fireside, Korean War Psychological Warrior

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 8, 2024 39:34


    Long after the Korean Armistice Agreement was signed in 1953, American service members were still fighting on the peninsula -- though their weapon of choice was not a firearm or a mortar but the power of the pen. William Fireside's mission in Korea was Psychological Operations (PsyOps for short), and the adventures he had in the execution of that mission make for an entertaining episode.

    Episode 62: Cold War Spy John Lee

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 26, 2024 36:11


    John Lee's Air Force basic training testing in 1955 revealed a hidden skill: an aptitude for foreign languages. His first assignment was a yearlong intensive study of Russian at Syracuse University. He then took those skills -- and a top-secret clearance -- to the border with East Germany where he and others listened in on Soviet pilots flying overhead.

    Episode 61: Duane Buttell and the MiG-21 Victory

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2024 42:35


    On July 14, 1966, Duane Buttell, Jr., was the "Guy in Back" of an F-4 fighter escorting F-105s to a target over North Vietnam. Suddenly, several enemy MiG-21s appeared. Buttell and his co-pilot, William Swendner, shot down the MiG in one of the first victories over that aircraft during the Vietnam War. The aerial battle made such an impact that Hanoi Hannah mentioned Duane by name on a subsequent broadcast.

    Episode 60: Vietnam Veteran Jim Davidson, A Survivor

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 11, 2023 48:16


    Army Sergeant Jim Davidson arrived in Vietnam in March of 1968 with the intensity of the Tet Offensive still at a fever pitch. Jim stepped into the 101st Airborne as a replacement troop and soon found out why that unit's casualty rate was so high. Jim was wounded three times, the last time by a booby-trapped grenade that left him hospitalized for weeks. Instead of going home, however, Jim was sent back to the fighting for a fourth time. Every day for 54 years since coming home, Jim was wondered why he survived when so many of his friends did not.

    Episode 59: Tomb Guard Joe Varanauski and the Standard of Perfection

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2023 42:48


    From late 1956 through the summer of 1957, Army veteran Joseph Varanauski held the esteemed position of Sentinel at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Listen in as Joe details his journey to one of the most prestigious posts in the U.S. Armed Services and reveals what it means to live by the creed "my standard will remain perfection."

    Episode 58: Every Hero Has a Story

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 25, 2023 42:53


    Honor Flight Chicago has now flown over 10,600 senior war veterans to Washington, D.C., to celebrate their service and give them the proper Welcome Home they never received. That number is big -- possibly impenetrable -- but each one of those heroes has a story. Join Paul Meincke on September's HFC111 as he learns the stories of eight different heroes and the impact their HFC experience has had on them.

    Episode 57: David Mann, Vietnam War Gold Star Son

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 29, 2023 42:25


    David Mann's father was in Vietnam for only a short time when he was killed in a rocket attack months before his namesake son would be born stateside. The younger Mann has spent his life getting to know his dad, recently becoming involved with a group of Gold Star children called Sons and Daughters in Touch. David flew with us on HFC111 to honor his father's legacy and brethren, and share his own experience in this powerful episode.

    Episode 56: Norm Bowens, Mike Masello and the Brotherhood of Vietnam Veterans

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2023 54:37


    Norm Bowens and Mike Masello served in Vietnam at different times and at different places. Still, they each brought something home so common to veterans who served in combat: PTSD. Many years later, a chance encounter around a specific chair at a group meeting led the two to become fast friends and brothers. Both flew together on Honor Flight Chicago's 109th mission to Washington, D.C., in July of 2023. Here they share their individual stories of service and their shared journey on the long road of healing.

    Episode 55: Vietnam Veteran Jim Parker's Unique MOS as the ”Bug Man”

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 5, 2023 26:23


    Jim Parker grew up an Air Force brat. When the time came for him to join the service during the Vietnam War, he chose the same branch as his father. Despite being raised to know all things Air Force, his assigned role in the war was not one he had ever heard of. While his comrades in arms fought VC and NVA, Jim's adversaries were much smaller and more pervasive: mosquitoes.

    Episode 54: Vietnam Veteran Dante Plata and the Power of Music

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 8, 2023 35:50


    Dante Plata grew up in the church and fell in love with music and the guitar at an early age. Later, after entering the Army, he spent two years as a corpsman in a hospital in Japan treating the wounded of the Vietnam War. Seeing the results of the horrors of war up close led Dante to turn to his music for healing -- both for himself and for the benefit of those he cared for.

    Episode 53: WWII Aviator Howard Cain and the Aftermath of Little Boy

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 20, 2023 34:38


    The son of Jewish immigrants from Russia, Howard Cain was so eager to serve in WWII that he forged his parents' signatures to enlist at 17 toward the end of the war. Later, as a flight engineer on a B-29 Superfortress following Japan's surrender, Cain was aboard a reconnaissance flight over the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. What he saw has stuck with him to this day.

    Episode 52: Celebrating 10K Heroes Flown with Purple Heart Veteran Ray Szweda

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 30, 2023 38:58


    Honor Flight Chicago flew its 10,000th senior war hero to Washington D.C., on May 10, 2023. On that flight was Vietnam Veteran and Purple Heart recipient Raymond Szweda. Each of the 10,000 veterans we have honored has an individual story of service and sacrifice. Learn Ray's as you follow him throughout his much deserved Day of Honor during which he "learned that it's ok to ask for help."

    Episode 51: Vietnam War Sniper Ronald Baltierra

    Play Episode Listen Later Jun 16, 2023 46:53


    Ronald Baltierra served as a sniper in Vietnam, an assignment so difficult mentally that he failed to pull the trigger the first time he was ordered to do so. He eventually came to understand that as hard as it was to knowingly take a life, he was saving countless more in that brutal war with his actions.

    Episode 50: Bob Bruzek and the Seabees in Vietnam

    Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2023 36:40


    Navy Seabee Bob Bruzek traveled with Honor Flight Chicago in June of 2019 aboard our very first flight to include Vietnam veterans. Flying with him on a laminated card inserted into his hat were the names of two men, friends from Vietnam who did not make it home from the war. As we honored Bob that day, he continued to honor his fallen comrades-in-arms as he has done for the last half century. 

    Episode 49: Celebrating 100 With Rev. Hank Roberson

    Play Episode Listen Later Apr 20, 2023 12:45


    Featured in Episode 6 of our podcast, WWII Veteran Hank Roberson is back to celebrate his 100th Birthday! In this short episode, Paul Meincke joins Rev. Roberson at his West Side church on Easter Sunday as the community comes together to honor this hero. Listen in!

    Episode 48: Ed Helrigel's Two Tours of Vietnam

    Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2023 47:23


    Ed Helrigel returned from Vietnam to a world he no longer recognized. From the heat of battle one day to arriving home the next, it was a reality that plagued many of his comrades-in-arms. For Ed, the toll of his transition back to the United States led him to volunteer for a second tour of Vietnam, where at least his brothers understood the world they occupied.

    Episode 47: Sonny Djancewicz's Leadership In The Jungles of Vietnam

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 23, 2023 42:19


    Sonny Djancewicz saw constant action in the Vietnamese jungles as a Sergeant in the 7th Cavalry Regiment. The physical and emotional scars of battle, though many, were not enough to dim his singular focus: keeping the men in his command as safe as possible. His bravery earned him three Bronze Stars and three Purple Hearts, but only recently did he become interested in receiving the medals at the urging of his family. 

    Episode 46: WWII B-24 Pilot Howard Levinson's Dream To Fly

    Play Episode Listen Later Feb 7, 2023 38:12


    Howard Levinson grew up in extreme poverty in Chicago and from a very young age experienced rampant anti-Semitism. He dreamed to fly, pushing through the obstacles of resources and ignorance to become a B-24 pilot in the Pacific at the tender age of 21. Though his crew feared he would be a "coward" because of his Jewish religion, he taught them a lesson in heroism they would never forget. Howard has continued to teach his entire life, including 75 years as a flight instructor.

    Episode 45: Vietnam Veteran Dee Simmons and the Impact of Agent Orange

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 18, 2023 36:45


    Army SPC/5 Richard "Dee" Simmons saw and experienced a lot during his time in Vietnam, but nothing stuck with him more -- literally -- than the Agent Orange defoliant that would cake on his skin to the point that it could be peeled off. In addition to the resulting physical health struggles, Dee like so many deals with PTSD. After years of avoidance, Dee now embraces his story and shares it for younger generations to learn. It also bears noting that Dee is one of our most active and dedicated volunteers.

    Episode 44: Purple Heart Veteran Jerry Warren and Race in the Vietnam War

    Play Episode Listen Later Jan 9, 2023 40:55


    Jerry Warren is a born leader, a trait that was instantly recognized in his Army training prior to being sent to Vietnam. Jerry, who is Black, quickly made Sergeant and was placed in charge of a unit comprising all white soldiers. Though they functioned well as a team, there was a prejudicial undercurrent that could not be escaped. 

    Episode 43: Korean War Veteran Elaine Ansbro and NORAD

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2022 31:32


    Elaine Ansbro has had a fascination with flying and aviation since she was a young girl. With that in mind, she joined the Air Force during the Korean War in the hopes of taking wing. She soon found out she was too tall at 5-foot-8 to serve aboard aircraft, and instead learned a new skill she still has to this day: writing backward. Find out how that job aided the war effort, and experience Elaine's love of singing in our latest episode of Honor. Thank. Inspire!

    Episode 42: Jerry Sperry, One of the Korean War's Chosin Few

    Play Episode Listen Later Dec 3, 2022 25:36


    Marine Corps Veteran Jerry Sperry received two Purple Heart medals for his service in the Korean War. The first came in South Korea, while the second came during the frozen Battle of Chosin Reservoir in the North. Now in his 90s, Jerry's current mission is to educate future generations about the "Chosin Few" who fought that battle.

    Episode 41: Vietnam Veteran Jim Weinstein's Mission To Find Himself

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 11, 2022 37:13


    Marine Corps Lance Corporal Jim Weinstein enlisted in the Marines to escape a troubled youth full of drink and drugs. Jim endured many close calls on the battlefields of Vietnam including one that resulted in his family receiving an erroneous death notice. All of it added up to another battle with PTSD following his service. Jim says of his Honor Flight Chicago experience: "For 50 years after I got back I couldn't cry. It's now six days after my flight, and I still have a lump in my throat that I hope never goes away."

    Episode 40: WWII Veteran Howard Hill And the Aftermath of Nagasaki

    Play Episode Listen Later Nov 7, 2022 31:07


    Howard Hill joined the Navy at 17-years-old toward the tail end of WWII. At war's end, he was on a ship bound for Japan to pick up POWs who had been housed in prison camps near Nagasaki. With camera in hand, Howard walked the streets of the city and documented first-hand the destructive power of the atom bomb.

    Episode 39: Small Town America and the Vietnam War

    Play Episode Listen Later Oct 7, 2022 39:19


    Honor Flight Chicago alum Danny Anderson hails from Gardner, Illinois. A town of 1,400 that sits 60 miles southwest of Chicago in Grundy county, Gardner saw five of its young men not return home from Vietnam. Danny himself was wounded there. He and longtime friends Earl Fatlan and Gary Kociss -- also Vietnam veterans -- sat down with Paul Meincke to discuss their experiences.

    Episode 38: WWII Veteran Bill Shoop, Witness to the Nuremberg Trials

    Play Episode Listen Later Sep 13, 2022 38:00


    Bill Shoop served as a teletype operator during the latter stages of World War II in Europe, first during the Battle of Bulge and later from the International Military Tribunal known as the Nuremburg Trials. Though he claims no special role in the Trials -- "I just happened to be there," he says -- Bill Shoop was quite literally a witness to history and we are proud to tell his story.

    Episode 37: A Recap of Flight 103, Our Operation Education Mission

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 26, 2022 34:23


    Our 103rd flight on July 20, 2022, featured 111 senior war veterans receiving their long-awaited and much-deserved Day of Honor, Thanks, and Inspiration. It also featured 13 teachers and students from our rapidly growing "Operation Education" mission that seeks to connect veterans with local schools to inspire gratitude and service among our youngest generation. This is their story.

    Episode 36: Rodney Branch Plays TAPS In Combat

    Play Episode Listen Later Aug 9, 2022 40:19


    Rodney Branch has always been a musician. When he joined the Army in 1966, his first duty station was with the 55th Army Band in Alabama as a trumpeter and a bugler. Soon, though, he got his orders for Vietnam. There his MOS continued to be of a musical nature: Rodney Branch braved ambush and attack to fly into fire bases and perform TAPS for fallen comrades during the TET Offensive, and he never ever missed a note!

    Episode 35: Mike Osika and the USS Enterprise Explosion

    Play Episode Listen Later Jul 28, 2022 35:17


    Mike Osika was aboard the USS Enterprise on January 14, 1969, when -- 75 miles from Pearl Harbor and in preparations to sail to Vietnam -- explosions ripped across the flight deck. Mike joined the fight on the deck to save the ship from the inferno that claimed 28 lives and injured more than 300. Years later, Mike was aboard HFC100 as an honored veteran. Following his flight, he came across a veteran interview with an old high school friend participating in HFC101 that he long thought was KIA in Vietnam. Their reunion after 52 years is a fitting capstone to this episode!

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