Chris Alvarez grew up knowing he wanted to serve and that he wanted to serve with the best. After being convinced to join the Marines once he was old enough, a high school teacher who had served in the Marines encouraged him to learn more about the U.S. Navy SEAL's. It didn't take much research for Alvarez to decide that's exactly what he wanted to be. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Alvarez takes us through the grueling BUD/s training required to become a U.S. Navy SEAL. He...

Kelly Elmlinger was a three-sport athlete in high school. She excelled in cross country, basketball, and track. After considering military service, she decided to keep playing sports at the next level, but she quickly decided college was not for her. That's when she joined the Army and became a combat medic, eventually with the 82nd Airborne Division, serving in both Iraq and Afghanistan. Later, she became a nurse and then a cancer patient herself. Yet even after losing a leg, Elmlinger...

Thomas "Drago" Dzieran grew up in Communist Poland. He realized he was being fed lies and propaganda as a boy when he got in big trouble at school for asking simple questions about the government. As a young man, he became actively involved in the Solidarity movement and in spreading anti-Communist messages. His activities landed him in prison and he was eventually expelled from Poland. Poland's loss was America's gain. In 1984, Drago Dzieran came to the U.S. Seven years later he became an...

In the early 1960's, the U.S. Army developed a new way of moving troops into and out of strategic locations. It was called Air Cavalry and operated under the theory that moving forces by helicopter was faster and more precise than driving them or having them jump out of airplanes. One of the earliest and best known Air Cavalry engagements was at Landing Zone X-Ray during the Battle of Ia Drang in November 1965. Young Earnie Savage was part of Bravo company in the 1st Battalion, 7th Cavalry...

Leon Walker, Jr. grew up in a family full of Army and Marine Corps veterans. He tried to enlist in the Marines but the recruiter didn't want to be bothered on his lunch hour. Within minutes, Walker joined the U.S. Navy. He was initially assigned to serve as a deckhand on the fast frigate USS Reid, but on his first deployment he started learning how to navigate. For the next 21 years, he served as a navigator on many different deployments before rising to the rank of command master chief. On...

Melvin Jenner was already in the Michigan Air National Guard when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After joining the U.S. Army Air Corps and undergoing training for a bomber crew, he was soon flying missions in the European Theater of World War II. The next few years would bring him harrowing bomber missions, a secret flight over Normandy on D-Day, and an unforgettable role in the Berlin Airlift. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Jenner tells us how he ended up...

Patrick Finn fibbed about his age in order to join the U.S. Marine Corps a bit earlier than he should have. He served honorably and was ready to end his service before the Korean War ever began. But his inability to come up with $92 led him to re-enlist and in the summer of 1950 he was off to fight a war in a place he knew nothing about. The summer of 1950 was chaotic in Korea. The North Koreans invaded the south in late June and nearly conquered the whole peninsula. But U.S. forces arrived...

In our last edition of "Veterans Chronicles," we learned about the World War II service of U.S. Air Force Col. Joe Peterburs (Ret.). He told us all about escorting U.S. bombers into Germany, strafing Luftwaffe airfields, and shooting down a highly decorated German ace before getting shot down himself on the very same mission. Please be sure to listen to Part 1 of his story. But the story of Col. Peterburs goes well beyond World War II. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Peterburs...

Joe Peterburs was on track to become a priest. All of that changed when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. The next year, Peterburs joined the U.S. Army Air Corps and trained to be a fighter pilot. He mastered the P-40, but by the time he got to England in late 1944, the P-51 was waiting for him. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Joe Peterburs takes us through his service in World War II as he began a military career lasting more than 36 years. You'll hear...

Tom Toski was drafted into the U.S. Navy in 1943 and was deployed on a destroyer escort to the Pacific theater upon completion of his training. By the end of the war, just two years later, Toski had earned five battle stars, including Leyte Gulf and Okinawa. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Toski shares his story of service, describes his memories of those critical battles, and explains why he is so proud of his service during the war.

After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Royal Earle, Jr. and a buddy were on their way to join the the U.S. Marine Corps to take the fight to Japan. But his friend got snagged by the U.S. Navy instead. Unfazed, Earle endured Parris Island and Camp Pendleton and received training as a switchboard operator and wireman in preparation for service in the Pacific. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. Earle walks us through his biggest challenge in boot camp and a big mystery during his...

John DeGennero was just 15 years old and playing at a park on the Sunday the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. After turning 17 in 1943, he joined the U.S. Marine Corps, determined to help win the war. Over the next two years, that teenager perfected a skill that would be crucial to winning the Battle of Iwo Jima. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. DeGennaro tells us about boot camp at Parris Island and then specializing in the science of sound ranging. From...

Richard Baughn served as an officer in the U.S. Army Air Corps and then the U.S. Air Force for more than 30 years both active duty and reserve. He retired as a brigadier general. Gen. Baughn's passion was flying and he put it to excellent use as a P-51 pilot over Europe in World War II and flying the F-104 and F-105 in Vietnam. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Gen. Baughn takes us along on his missions in World War II, both as a fighter escort for American bombers and his frequent...

Vincent Speranza was born to immigrant Italian parents in New York City. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor, Speranza's father stressed to his boys that they were Americans and that America must not lose the war. He was quite a bit more conflicted over the prospects of his sons fighting against Italy. Once old enough to serve, Speranza was assigned to the U.S. Army infantry but eventually moved to the airborne. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Speranza details how he joined the...

Lester Schrenk joined the U.S. Army Air Forces on his 19th birthday in November 1942. Even though he still sees perfectly today, he was told he could not become a pilot due to poor eyesight. So this Minnesota farm kid was assigned as a ball turret gunner on a B-17 bomber crew. At 5'11", he was much bigger than most men tasked with squeezing into that very tiny space. Roughly a year later, he was deployed to Europe. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Schrenk tells us what the missions...

Roy Gleason grew up near Chicago and fell in love with baseball while watching Cubs games with his grandfather. As a young teenager, he learned he had a tremendous amount of talent. After moving to California, he soon found himself signed to the Los Angeles Dodgers organization. In 1963, Gleason was a late-season call-up for the Dodgers, played in several games as a pinch runner and got one very memorable at-bat. After a few difficult years back in the minors, Gleason seemed poised to return...

Louis Bourgault was 16 years old when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor - too young to formally join the military. After his father rejected a teenage plot to go join the Canadian forces, Bourgault enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps when he turned 17. After grueling basic training at Parris Island, Bourgault was tapped as a message runner. He was soon off to San Diego and then shipped to New Zealand. After spending time loading and unloading ships at Guadalcanal, it was soon time to enter the...

John 'Lucky" Luckadoo wanted to join the war effort against Nazi Germany even before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. He and a friend hatched a plan to join the service in Canada until Lucky's father refused to allow it. But his friend went through with it. After Pearl Harbor, while in his first year at college, Luckadoo joined the U.S. Army Air Corps. Before long he was assigned to be a co-pilot in the "Bloody 100th" bomb group. He would be one of the few to survive 25 missions early in...

Dakota Meyer decided to have some fun with the U.S. Marine recruiter visiting his high school. Within minutes he had a change of heart and signed up to serve. Meyer would serve in Iraq and Afghanistan, and a horrific day in September 2009 would change his life forever. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Meyer shares the very difficult story of watching from a a mile away as his fellow Marines came under deadly enemy fire. Defying orders, Meyer spent the next several hours against...

Russell "Rusty" Schweikart grew up with a great interest in aviation and watching the planes fly around Lakehurst Naval Air Station in New Jersey. So it was no surprise when he joined the U.S. Air Force and was trained as a fighter pilot. He later joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard. But in 1963, he was selected as a NASA astronaut and was soon on track to be part of the Apollo program to fulfill President John F. Kennedy's vision of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely...

Howard Hill attended the U.S. Air Force Academy and went on to flight training, where he became a radio intercept officer (RIO). Deployed to Vietnam as a backseater on an F-4, Hill flew many missions, including one that earned him his first Silver Star before being shot down two months later. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Col. Hill details that successful mission in October 1967. He then takes moment by moment on the December mission in which his plane was shot down and he was...

Whitey Johnson was a farm kid from Minnesota who had the chance to fly a crop duster when he was a teenager. The day after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, he stood in line to join the U.S. Army Air Corps. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Johnson describes his excitement at being assigned to the Flying Tigers, serving on the Shanghai Raids and his heart-pounding drama of being shot down and nearly captured while being hidden by the Chinese.

Randy Bresnik was born into a family that already had an aviation legacy. His father was a U.S. Army Air Cavalry helicopter pilot in Vietnam and his grandfather spent five years as the official photographer for Amelia Earhart. But Bresnik would chart his own path, attending The Citadel as a Navy ROTC student and ultimately choosing the U.S. Marine Corps. He has flown 86 different types of planes but his favorite is the F/A-18. In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Bresnik takes us...

Brendan Quisenberry grew up with a deep appreciation for military service, as both his father and grandfather were veterans. As a sophomore in high school when terrorists struck the U.S. on 9/11, he knew he needed to serve. A couple of years later he joined the U.S. Army and by 2004 he was on his first deployment overseas - this one to Iraq. Following that deployment, Quisenberry successfully completed the training needed to become a U.S. Army Ranger. Soon he was off to the first of several...

Harrison Schmitt's father was a geologist but it wasn't until college thatSchmitt decided to follow in his dad's footsteps. By the mid-1960's, Schmitt had a Ph.D and was working at the U.S. Geological Survey's Astrogeology Center. Before long, NASA was looking for geologists to advise on the upcoming lunar missions. Schmitt then advised the Apollo 11 crew on what to look for and to bring home. And he also consulted with every subsequent mission. But before too long, NASA decided to send...