Veterans Chronicles Radio America

Paul "Bud" Haedike was drafted into the U.S. Army Air Corps in 1943. Before long, he was assigned as a bombardier on a B-17 bomber crew. From the final months of 1944 until the end of the war in Europe, Haedike took part in 23 bombing missions, and none of those missions came with a guarantee he would return to base safely. 

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Sgt. Haedike recounts his first mission, which resulted in a crash landing in Belgium. He also remembers emergency landings on two other missions, what it was like to suffer through anti-aircraft fire on most missions, and how his orders shifted from precision bombing to pattern bombing. He shares the powerful story of bringing critical food supplies to the Netherlands after despicable German cruelty at the end of the war.

This was our second interview with Sgt. Haedike, recorded when he was "ninety-eight and a half" at the American Veterans Center conference in November 2023. Bud passed away in March 2024, not long before his 99th birthday. We're grateful to have known this wonderful man and for his service to our nation.

Roger "Buck" Winters was a recent high school graduate working at a tool factory in Texas when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. He immediately wanted to quit his job and join the U.S. Army Air Corps. The government would not let him do either of those things at first. Winters would join the Army in 1943 and get trained as an engineer. He would be deployed to Guadalcanal and then to Cebu in the Philippines, where he would have a front row seat to history.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," 100-year-old Buck Winters tells us about his ordnance training and his work of destroying and building as an engineer in the Pacific theater of World War II. He will share what it was like to come under attack by the Japanese on Guadalcanal. He also explains what it took to find and eliminate the holdout Japanese soldiers who refused to surrender.

From there, it's on to Cebu, his shock at hearing natives speaking excellent English, and the hard work of rebuilding Cebu City. But the most vivid memory for Buck Winters is serving on the honor guard that welcomed Gen. Douglas MacArthur on his return to Cebu.

On April 1, 2024, LCDR Lou Conter, U.S. Navy (Retired) died at the age of 102. He was the last living survivor of the USS Arizona, which was sunk by the Japanese during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941. His passing marks a somber milestone for a generation that courageously rose up to defend our nation and our allies.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Conter shares how he joined the Navy, got assigned to the USS Arizona, and was privy to the conversations of commanders aboard the battleship. He also shares what it as like to live through the Japanese attacks that killed nearly 1,200 of his shipmates, what he was doing before and after the order to abandon ship, and the difficult work that followed.

But Conter's service did not end there. He also describes going to flight school in Pensacola, Florida, just weeks after the attacks, his service as a PBY pilot in the Pacific theater, and how he survived being shot down into the ocean.

Conter also shares some of his service surveilling the Soviets near Iceland in the early days of the Cold War and how the tough jungle survival course he taught turned out to be a critical asset for the Americans imprisoned at the infamous "Hanoi Hilton" in Vietnam.

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 explains what was most challenging for him and what's most important to understand about what the training is designed to accomplish.

He also details his service with SEAl Team 10 in Afghanistan and with U.S. Southern Command in Latin America. And finally, he reflects on heading back to BUD/s training to serve as an instructor.

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 persevered and represented the U.S. at the Paralympic Games just a few years later.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Elmlinger shares how the 9/11 attacks changed the trajectory of her military service and how her combat medic training suddenly became much more real. She also describes her service in Afghanistan, meeting and connecting with the Afghan women, and what the Afghan men thought about her.

Then she explains how different and how much harder the same job was in Iraq, why there was often little combat medics could do to help, and the painstaking efforts she and her teammates took to to find some personal effect to present to the families of every fallen service member.

Elmlinger then recounts her decision to become a nurse and work with wounded veterans in San Antonio and how that work helped to prepare her to be a patient there as she battled cancer in her leg. And finally, she updates us on how she became an elite adaptive sports athlete - representing the U.S. at the 2021 Summer Paralympic Games in Tokyo. And she'll do it again this summer in Paris!

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 American citizen - what he still considers his greatest accomplishment - and soon joined the U.S. Navy. A short time later he began BUD/s training and became a Navy SEAL.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Drago shares tremendous detail about his life behind the Iron Curtain, the grueling process to become a SEAL, and his three back-to-back deployments in Iraq. He will also tell us about his SEAL teams pursuing high-value targets and the toll that work took on his health.

Finally, Drago shares what it was like returning to SEAL training as an instructor and why he enthusiastically loves the United States. It's an infectious enthusiasm will likely make you even prouder to be an American.