The following shows aired in May 2016. Click on the show date in the left column to listen to that show. Files are in MP3 format.
5/1/16 The VA’s Golden Games and USS Detroit. Tune in this week to hear about VA’s Golden Games in metro Detroit this summer and the USS Detroit commissioning this fall.  We will also conduct an interview with Dr. Anthony Hassan regarding the Cohen Veterans Network’s 25 mental health clinics being privately funded for veterans and their family members across the country. Join host Jim Fausone for this week’s show.
5/8/16 Red Platoon. The need for DAV services has never been so great. The number of veterans with service-related injuries and illnesses has skyrocketed to more than 3.6 million men and women today, up from 2 million just 12 years ago. By the year 2020, the number is expected to grow to 4 million. Join our guest Garry Augustine—the Executive Director of DAV’s National Service and Legislative Headquarters in Washington, D.C. who will discuss proposed changes at the VA.

And Medal of Honor recipient Clinton Romesha. You don’t want to miss this harrowing story of survival and devotion to his fellow soldiers.

In 2009, Clinton Romesha of Red Platoon and the rest of the Black Knight Troop were preparing to shut down Command Outpost (COP) Keating, the most remote and inaccessible in a string of bases built by the U.S. military in Nuristan and Kunar in the hope of preventing Taliban insurgents from moving freely back and forth between Afghanistan and Pakistan. Three years after its construction, the army was finally ready to concede what the men on the ground had known immediately: it was simply too isolated and too dangerous to defend.

On October 3, 2009, after years of constant smaller attacks, the Taliban finally decided to throw everything they had at Keating. The ensuing 14-hour battle—and eventual victory—cost 8 men their lives.

Red Platoon is the riveting first-hand account of the Battle of Keating, told by Romesha, who spearheaded both the defense of the outpost and the counter-attack that drove the Taliban back beyond the wire, and received the Medal of Honor for his actions.

A special song by Kelly Trudell: Sound of Hope
5/15/16 John Philip Sousa

Before The Rolling Stones.
Before The Beatles.
Before Benny Goodman.

Before any of these, there was a band that remained the most popular musical act in the world for over 30 years. The first American musical organization to go on world tour. The first musical act to travel more than a million miles and perform for more than a million people. A band that whose members were the best in the world on their instruments. A band led by a world-famous composer and conductor.

John Philip Sousa was born in 1854 in Washington, D.C. and died in 1932. He worked as a theater musician and conducted the U.S. Marine Band before starting his own civilian band in 1892. Sousa toured with his band for 40 years and was indisputably the most famous musical act in the world. He composed 136 marches, 15 operettas, 70 songs and many other pieces.

Join us this week on Veterans Radio as we talk about the greatest American march composer, John Phillip Sousa with members of the Washtenaw Community Concert Band about Sousa, his music and their upcoming Sousa concert on Sunday, May 22, 2016.
5/22/16 Dr. Rebecca Grant and Solidad O’Brien. We have a very special program this week on Veterans Radio. First up we have Soledad O’Brien Presents: The War Comes Home—The New Battlefront, which is a one-time-only event on Tuesday, May 24 at 7 p.m. local time that features a screening of “The War Comes Home,” a true story that follows two veterans of the Iraq war on the brink of suicide as they turn to a five-day emotional boot camp for a life-changing recovery. Following the screening, Soledad O’Brien gathers community leaders, experts on veterans’ affairs and celebrity advocates to talk about how our country is serving – and not serving – our veterans as they face the challenges of PTSD, family reintegration and unemployment. Fathom Events and Starfish Media Group present this event at select U.S. movie theaters on Tuesday, May 24 at 7:00 p.m. local time.

And the we have our frequent guest Dr. Rebecca Grant, President, IRIS Independent Research who will comment on Syria, Russia, China, N. Korea, KC-46A Pegasus Tanker.

Dr. Grant earned her Ph.D. in International Relations from the London School of Economics, then worked for RAND and the offices of the Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff of the Air Force. In 1995, she founded IRIS Independent Research, performing work on strategic planning for aerospace and government clients.
5/29/16 Memorial Day, 2016 What do you do to celebrate our freedom and remember those who fought to honor it? Memorial Day is one of the most important days in America. It’s a day to give thanks, to pay tribute and to remember those who gave their lives to protect our country. In reality, we should be thankful every single day of the year, but the third Monday of May is the official day where we all come together to honor our fallen soldiers.

For love of country they accepted death.—James A. Garfield
The dead soldier’s silence sings our national anthem.—Aaron Kilbourn
We come, not to mourn our dead soldiers, but to praise them.—Francis A. Walker
And I’m proud to be an American,
where at least I know I’m free.
And I won’t forget the men who died,
who gave that right to me.”—Lee Greenwood

Join us this week on Veterans Radio as we celebrate those who paid the ultimate price to keep us free. Listen as we replay an interview about the history and meaning of Arlington National Cemetery, hosted by our late partner, Gary Lillie.
  

And we will be playing some of Michael J. Martin’s music in honor of Memorial Day. Michael was a good friend of Gary Lillie.

Make sure you fly your flag this Memorial Day!