Tag: military/Archives

Winter Soldiers video

“Winter Soldiers”- Iraq Veterans Against the War testimony (warning: includes picture of the dead):

Boots-on-the-ground soldiers and marines testify in March 2008 “giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out.” Winter Soldiers is a project of Iraq Veterans Against the War.

Winter Soldiers Testimony from former Marines: Jon Turner and Michael LeDuc and former Army Soldiers: Clifton Hicks, Garrett Reppenhagen.

Photos and video from veterans: Jon Turner, Scott Ewing, Kristofer Goldsmith, Daniel Fanning, Lars Ekstrom, Mike Totten, Andrew Duffy, Hart Viges, Clifton Hicks, Steven Casey, Steve Mortillo, Jesse Hamilton, Adam Kokesh, Abby Hiser.

Video produced by Max Darham, audio produced by Scott Carrier & Barrett Golding for Hearing Voices. Music by Jeff Arntsen. More Winter Soldiers audio…

HV034- To War

UH1 Helicopters flying in Vietnam at sunriseHearing Voices from NPR®
034 To War: Getting In and Getting Out
Host: Scott Carrier of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2009-11-18 (Originally: 2008-10-22)

“To War” (52:00 mp3):

We get out of one conflict and into another:

“Ready for War?” (22:20) Scott Carrier

Our show host travels the country in early October 2001, asking everyone the same question: “Are You Ready for War?”

“Goodbye to Saigon” (21:30) narrator: Noah Adams, producer: Art Silverman.

An NPR chronicle leading up to the last day of US flights out of the Vietnam War, 30 April 1975: the fall of Saigon, with original recordings by one of the helicopter pilots.

U.S. Helicopters at dawn
UH1 helicopters at sunrise in Vietnam, photo by Lowell Eneix, 121st Assault Helicopter Company, US Army (from Vietnam Helicopter online gallery).

HV028- Vox Pop

Hearing Voices from NPR®:
028 Vox Pop— For 9/11
Host— Jay Allison of Transom
Airdates— 9/10/2008 – 9/17/2008

Statue of soldierThe stars of this show are Americans, expressing their opinions, participating in our democratic discussion.

We roam the streets of New York City in the hours during and weeks after 9/11, hitting “Golf Balls” and spending our “Last Night in New York.”

We travel 8000 miles of America gathering “Vox Pop.”

And “Amber” provides an illegal alien p.o.v. via a radio call-in line.

Works from Transom.org by producers Scott Carrier, Christopher Lydon, Matt Lieber, and Australian Wednesday Kennedy.

Vox Pop (53:00 mp3):

Music: Bela Fleck and the Flecktones- “Stomping Grounds” Live Art, Keith Jarrett- “Americana” Dark Intervals, and Ry Cooder- “Dark End of the Street” Boomer’s Story.

HV027- Poland

Boy sits among bombed buildings, photo by Julien BryanHearing Voices from NPR®
027 Poland: A Ghost Story
Host: Art Silverman of NPR
Airs week of: 2009-09-16 (Originally: 2008-09-03)

“Poland” (52:00 mp3):

For the 70th anniversary of the invasion:

Poland battles against the Germans and then the Russians at the start of the Second World War.

A German foot soldier and Polish townspeople recall, differently, the first days of the invasion of Poland in September 1939, and Poland’s later battle to fight years of environmental poisoning during the Soviet era.

All in a series of stories written by NPR’s Alex Chadwick and produced by host Art Silverman.

HV022- Mushroom Cloud

Cartoon of man with atomic explosion in his eyesHearing Voices from NPR®
022 Mushroom Cloud: Tales of the Atomic Age
Host: Larry Massett of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2012-08-01 (Originally: 2008-07-30)

Documents of our changing perceptions of weapons of mass destruction:

Bomber pilots and bombing victims, and and Colonel Paul Tibbets, pilot of the Enola Gay in “Enola Alone” by Antenna Theater, mixed by Earwax.

Political speeches and popular songs chart our changing attitudes towards weapons of mass destruction in the “Atomic Age.” Residents recall the Nevada and Utah nuclear bomb tests in the 1950s in their “Downwinder Diaries,” produced by Claes Andreasson.

Poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti has “Wild Dreams of a New Beginning,” an excerpt from “One of These days (or Nights)” produced for radio by Erik Bauersfeld (Bay Area Radio Drama), with sound design by Jim McKee (Earwax), and original music by Wieslaw Pogorzelski.

Americans across the country answer Scott Carrier‘s question: “What Are You Afraid Of?”

The story of the Big Bang, with a beat, “Page One” by Lemon Jelly.

And selections from “Atomic Platters: Cold War Music from the Golden Age of Homeland Security” compiled by CONELRAD.com (including Slim Galliard’s “Atomic Cocktail” (1945), versions of “Jesus Hits Like an Atom Bomb” by Lowell Blanchard & The Valley Trio (1949) and by The Pilgrim Travelers, and 1950-60s Civil Defense public service announcements.

Mushroom Cloud (53:00 mp3):

HV018- Flags and Fireworks

Dog and woman in flags on motorcycleHearing Voices from NPR®
018 Flags and Fireworks: For Fourth of July
Host: Larry Massett of Hearing Voices
Airs week of: 2012-06-27 (Originally: 2008-07-02)

“Stars and Bars” (52:00 mp3):

Celebrating America with Festivals and Flames, featuring:

Recitations and reflections on “The Pledge” of Allegiance” and “War vs. Peace” (by Joe Frank).

The annual “Rainbow Family” migration into the Montana forest on July Fourth — their day of prayer for peace (produced by Barrett Golding, photos by Chad Harder).

A town that covets their title of the “Armpit of America” — host Larry Massett welcomes you to Battle Mountain, Nevada.

Mississippi moonshine, barbecued goat and old-time Fife & Drum at “Otha Turner’s Afrosippi Picnic” with producer Ben Adair.

Preventive Maintenance Monthly

Magazine cover with woman asking: Done Any LatelyPreventive Maintenance Monthly (now digitized at VCU libraries) was an Army pub started in 1951 and drawn by comic artist Will Eisner, with comically beautiful service babes asking accusing questions like “Who didn’t check out these parts before taking them off the equipment?” And offering vital SOPs like:

Magazine drawing on cleaning battery terminals

Winter Soldiers

[This is a shortened version of our Winter Soldiers page.]

IVAW text logo

“These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of his country; but he that stands it now, deserves the love and thanks of man and woman.” –Thomas Paine 1776

For the first time boots-on-the-ground soldiers testified before Congress (C-SPAN) in May 2008 about how the Iraq war is being waged. Those testifying were members of the Iraq Veterans Against the War.

A couple months earlier the group gathered to record soldiers and marines “giving an accurate account of what is really happening day in and day out.” They called the event Winter Soldier, taking the name from a similar 1971 movement of Vietnam vets.

These are some of the voices of the IVAW “Winter Soldiers” (7:25 mp3):

The above audio is edited excepts from former marines Jon Turner and Michael LeDuc, former soldiers Clifton Hicks and Garrett Reppenhagen, Jon Turner again, and former soldiers Jason Hurd and Kristopher Shawn Goldsmith. Longer unedited excerpts from their and other IVAW testimony is at our Winter Soldiers page.

Memorial Day Memory

US Army Major Robert Schaefer in uniform A remembrance by Major Robert Schaefer, US Army Special Forces, the Green Berets. (with the sounds of a Military Honor Guard funeral for a fallen Navy Seal.) For Memorial Day and for the memory of the Major friend and fellow Green Beret, Joe “Super” Suponcic. Airs today on NPR Day to Day; by producer Barrett Golding. “Memorial Day Memory” (8:41 mp3):

The Military Honor Guard at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island was recorded by Charles Lane. The voices were Navy Lt Commander Snyder; Captain Coe and Staff Sergeant Trigger, U.S Marine Corps; and Petty Officer First Class Curt Wolz, US Navy. The bugler was Lt Denny Lortez , U.S. Sir Force Reserve. “Echo Taps” was played by the US Marine Band.The Military Honor Guard at Calverton National Cemetery on Long Island was recorded by Charles Lane. The voices were Navy Lt Commander Snyder; Captain Coe and Staff Sergeant Trigger, U.S Marine Corps; and Petty Officer First Class Curt Wolz, US Navy. The bugler was Lt Denny Lortez , U.S. Sir Force Reserve. “Echo Taps” was played by the US Marine Band. Major Schaefer is currently serving at the Defense Threat Reduction Agency at Fort Belvoir, VA. He was also in this 2006 HV/NPR report.

HV012- For the Fallen

Soldiers salute at graveHearing Voices from NPR®
012 For the Fallen: For Memorial Day
Host: Major Robert Schaefer of US Army Special Forces
Airs week of: 2012-05-23 (Originally: 2008-05-21)

For the Fallen (54:00 mp3):

Green Beret and poet, Colonel Robert Schaefer, US Army, hosts the voices of veterans remembering their comrades:

We talk with troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, reading their emails, poems, and journals, as part of the NEA project: “Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience.”

We hear interviews from StoryCorps, an essay from This I Believe, and the sounds of a Military Honor Guard, recorded by Charles Lane.

And we attend the daily “Last Post” ceremony by Belgian veterans honoring the WWI British soldiers who died defending a small town in western Belgium (produced by Marjorie Van Halteren).

Human Rights Rabbi, Israel

Palestinian and Israeli soldierA day-in-the-life of Rabbi Arik Ascherman with Rabbis for Human Rights in Jerusalem. He interacts with Arabs and Jews, and intercedes when he can during Palestinian home demolitions. He looks for common ground amongst the the rubble and rocks, the M-16s and tanks, and the two religions that started as one. (Photos by Jake Warga.)

Aired on PRI The World; by producer Jake Warga, “Rabbi for Human Rights, Israel” (6:57 mp3):

Ben Best Bikes for Lost Soldier

PFC Matt Maupin, US ArmyBenjamin Allen Best is a biker on a mission, a mission dedicated to the lost soldier Matt Maupin. Benjamin is on a journey to bicycle through every state in the continental US, spreading the word of the sacrifice people like Matt have made for our country. His ride started in Florida in 2004 and continues still. Like on any epic adventure, the traveler can get a bit weary, as evidenced in his posts…

Ben Best’s Lost Soldier blog: Regular updates by Benjamin on his travels.

Missing Soldier Matt Maupin: WLWT-TV story archive‐ Keith Matthew “Matt” Maupin (born July 13, 1983) is a United States Army PFC captured by Iraqi insurgents on April 9, 2004 while serving in the Iraq War after his convoy came under attack by rocket-propelled grenades and small arms fire near Baghdad, Iraq. Read more about this ongoing ordeal.

Benjamin Allen Best and “The Lost Soldier”: Dirt Rag Blog hosts an extensive forum of sightings and meetings with Benjamin at various stages of his travels.

via Jeff Ramiriz, KERA-Dallas and Andy Bruno of Dirt Rag mag.

Waterboard = Torture: Period

An intervu at NPR pointed to this post by a guy who’s given and received waterboardings, all in the employ of the US.gov, “Waterboarding is Torture… Period.”

The blogger (at Small Wars Journal) is “counterterrorism consultant Malcolm Nance, who has trained hundreds of American service members to be ready for interrogation techniques.” From NPR’s story “Expert Sheds Light on Waterboarding“—

Host Alex Chadwick: “Is waterboarding torture?”

Malcolm Nance: “Yes, of course it is.”