March 2016

In September 2012, Army veteran Daniel, (not his real name because he is still on active duty) and about 18 other soldiers boarded a flight back to North Carolina; their deployment was over.

Within moments of deplaning, the handlers got to pat their dogs on the head, say their goodbyes, then watch as the dogs—and all their equipment, down to their shredded leashes — were boarded on a truck and driven away. The only solace these soldiers had was the knowledge that they could apply to adopt their dogs, and that the passage of Robby’s Law in November 2000 would protect that right. But more than three years later, Daniel still doesn’t have Oogie. The dog has vanished. He is one of at least 200 military handlers whose dogs were secretly dumped out to civilians by K2 Solutions in February 2014, a New York Post investigation has found.
Join us with our guest New York Post writer Maureen Callahan who broke the original story.
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Shortly after Elaine D. Harmon died last April at the age of 95, her family found a letter in a fireproof box with explicit instructions: She wanted her ashes placed at Arlington National Cemetery.
“Even if there are no ashes left, I would like an empty urn placed at Arlington,” wrote Mrs. Harmon, who had been part of a 1,000-women unit during World War II that transported military planes and bombers, and trained men to fly them.

But 10 months later, Mrs. Harmon has not had a funeral, memorial service or burial. A large black box of her ashes sits on a shelf above some blouses and sweaters in her daughter’s bedroom closet in a condominium in this Washington suburb.Mrs. Harmon’s family has delayed laying her to rest because the Army, which oversees Arlington National Cemetery, says her wartime unit—known as the WASPs, shorthand for Women Airforce Service Pilots—was not technically part of the military. Thus, the Army ruled, her ashes cannot be placed in a columbarium there. (The Army also argues that the cemetery—where more than 400,000 veterans, their spouses and others are buried, is running out of space for graves and urns.) Read here. Elaine Harmon’s granddaughter Erin Miller will be giving us an update on this outrage.

Guest, Paul Schwimmer, has just returned home from Germany and will be reporting on the latest recovery of an American serviceman from WWII. He has been working with History Flight for many years. Don’t miss this great story.

History Flight is a non-governmental organization dedicated to finding, recovering and repatriating America’s war dead to American soil. Over the last ten years History Flight has sent over 100 search and recovery teams all over the world to locate loss sites of missing servicemen and to recover them. History Flight deployed cutting-edge, multi-disciplinary remote-sensing methodologies to find MIA loss sites where more than 500 American Servicemen are still missing.

Special Encore Program. First broadcast 6 April 2013

                                                      “SERVANT OF GOD,” Father Emil J. Kapaun, Chaplain, US Army

In 1950, Father Emil J. Kapaun, Chaplain, US Army, a native of Pilsen, Kansas, was Chaplain of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Calvary Division, Korea. He distinguished himself on the field of battle, both, as a soldier and a Chaplain. During the early days of the Korean War Father Kapaun, ministered both spiritually and physically to his fellow soldiers, particularly the sick, wounded and dying. Captured, 2 November 1950 by North Korean-Chinese Soldiers, Father Kapaun was confined at Prison Camp #5, Pyoktong, North Korea until his death, at the hands of his captors, 23 May 1951. Granted title of “Servant of God” by the Catholic Church Father Kapaun is the Most Decorated Chaplain in US military history. On April 11 President Obama will award the Congressional Medal of Honor for Father Kapaun.

Join Veterans Radio Host Bob Gould and guests: Father John Hotze, Priest and Judicial Vicar for the Catholic Diocese of Wichita, Roy Wenzl, national award winning reporter for the Wichita Eagle and co-author of The Miracle of Father Kapaun, William “Bill” Funchess, soldier and fellow POW who was THERE at camp 5 all together to honor a great humanitarian.