Soldiers Stories Podcast Donald Winn

Tonight's episode is from a retired soldier,  1sg David Jeffers, Dave and I served together for 2 years back in the mid 1980’s when we were young and for lack of a better term full of a lot of bull.   In those two years we hung out a lot together and enjoyed life, dave learned he had a passion for teaching and he was an excellent teacher and he still is today, while I enjoyed teaching I could not wait to get back into an operational unit. Which for me there was only one unit I wanted to be in and that was the 82nd Airborne Division 
You will hear about 5 stores from David as a 1SG he talked about smoking his soldiers, so along the way I had him give his definition of smoking.  Then I asked Dave when he had been smoked because in the Army it is a right of passage. Dave gives a couple examples and one of them includes me and the other one includes one with his platoon SGT and It was the funniest story I have heard since i started recording this podcast.  You find that story at starting around 55 minutes and 22 seconds, I call it David getting smoked by me and SFC Thomas Mosley. SGT Mosley went on to become a warrant officer and he was an excellent leader. He passed away back in 2016 which I provided the link to in his obituary in the show notes. 
Lets get on to the story, Retired 1SG Jeffers and Dave my friend lets here your story. 
6m:51s - First tour in Germany
9m:34s - ATC Tower work when hostages from Iran landed in Germany - 1981.
10m:45s - Basic & Advanced Air Traffic Control School 
16m:55s  - Why did you get out after your first tour of duty 
22m:53s - Return to active duty & the Army as a career
27M:45s - Myths about the Army
35m:07S - Congressional Inquiry
39m:50s - Specialist Black & Weekend Wall Locker Inspection
44m:24s - Leadership Techniques 
46m:26s - Definition of Smoking a soldier
53m:11s - Christopher Nocon Story
55m:26s - David getting smoked by me and SFC Thomas Mosley
60m:20s - Story to remember - Barracks Justice  
71m:53s - Paint a picture of your time in the Army
1h:20m:45s - closing  
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Richard A. Guenther - A potential draftee who joined the Navy verses being drafted in the Army in 1953. It worked out well for Richard and he had a great tour of duty in the Navy, minus the almost 2 ½ months of Mess Hall duty he had to serve. 
Richard served a total of eight years of service primarily out of Naval Air Station Pensacola. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Naval_Air_Station_Pensacola He served on the USS Saipan (CVL-48) Light Aircraft Carrier http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/48.htm that was turned into a training vessel to train young Naval Aviation Pilots. One of the pilots that went through the training while Richard was stationed on the Carrier was Senator John McCain.  
After his tour of duty on the ship Richard was assigned to a photo lab in Memphis Tennessee where he served out his remaining tour of active duty and then he went on to serve another four years as a Radar Sonar Operator at Pensacola in the Naval Reserves becoming a weekend warrior. 
Richard is now 86 years old and lives in Lewisburg Tennessee 
Timeline of Podcast
Introduction of Richard
1m:26S- Richard starts his story
10m:38s - Were you drafted Richard?
13m:07 s - Richards Transfer to Memphis Tennessee   
22m:56s - Funniest thing Richard remembers about his tour of duty
33m:34s - The one thing Richard learned from the military
40m:46s - Closing remarks

SGT Fred Castaneda is a proud veteran Paratrooper who served in Vietnam with the 23rd Infantry Division commonly referred to as the Americal Division. https://americal.org/cmsaml/   The Americal Division is a  contraction of "American, New Caledonian Division". This was unusual, as most U.S. divisions are known by a number. After World War II the Americal Division was officially re-designated as the 23rd Infantry Division. However, it was rarely referred to as such, even on official orders.
 
The link below is a short biography of SGT Castaneda recorded by the University of Texas at Austin by the Voces Oral History Project back on January 18, 2010. 
https://voces.lib.utexas.edu/collections/stories/fred-castaneda
Fred was drafted and like a lot of draftees he tried to control a little of his own destiny by volunteering to be a Paratrooper.  He paints the picture very well in explaining how even though he scored very high on his entrance exam he was given very few options because he was not a United States Citizen.  He made the best out of a not so good situation.  
 
I am learning after just my 10th interview, Fred was not different from many veterans, he moved on quickly after he was discharged and put his time in the military behind him, he jumped with both feet into being a very successful civilian, son, husband and father. After two decades Fred landed in the heart of the Army which is North Carolina, the home of the 82nd Airborne, XVIII Airborne Corps, FORSCOM, and the US Army Special Operations Command. He had some time on his hands and decided to visit a recruiting office and there his passion returned as a Soldier & Paratrooper.  
Fred is dealing with complications from Agent Orange & PTSD. Hi days are now spent like a lot of veterans who served in Vietnam at the Veterans Administration Hospital. His stories about the media resonated with me all too well and his stories about being a PIG Gunner (this is the affectionate name given to the M60 Machine Gun) was very well told. 
You will hear that SGT Fred Castaneda has an excellent radio / podcast voice and if you would like to hear more from Fred he hosts his own podcast at the http://podcastreporter.com/.  He has helped me as a  fledgling podcaster get off the ground. 
 
Timeline:
Start - Fred is drafted while in College
3m:15s - Volunteered for Airborne along with his buddy
4m.20s - Talk about Fred’s Bio from University of Texas
8m.1s - Why Fred joined the Airborne
12m.15s - Coming Home from Vietnam
18m.43s - Recondo School Instructor
22m.17s - Yom Kippur War,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur_War
24m.38s - Failed Recruiting Program 
26m.44s - Arrived in Vietnam
29m.50s - Injured on an airborne operation at Nijmegen drop zone
33m.15s - Parachute Redeployment Duty 
36m.19s - Resurgence in pride & honor of being a Paratrooper 
39m. 6s - Adjusting to Civilian Life
42m.45s - Myths around the Army
45m.323s - Engaging the Enemy in Vietnam & Friendly Fire
50m.58s - Dealing with the Media (or as Fred calls it the LAME STREAM MEDIA)
52M.17S - Respect for the Helicopter Pilots & Medics   
53m.28s - Best & worst experience in Army
58m.19s - Humorist stories it pass along
1h.03m.27s - Follow up on serious moments
1h.0m.25s - Donut Dolly - Red Cross 
1h.15.42 - What does your career look like today
1h.18m3s - Parting thought - A line from the movie Batan 
1h.19m - Closing Comments 

 


Today’s story is about a Cold War soldier who served in the Army in Germany  at one of the key periods in the cold War. 
In 1961 Joe Wasz 19 was drafted into the service, he like a lot of soldiers drafted and similar my brother Dennis Winn, who I interviewed on my podcast took the draft into his own hands and ask for the draft board to move up his enlistment so he could move forward in his life. Joe was almost immediately activated which started a two adventure in the Army with many up & downs.  
Additionally during this interview Joe and I review his father's WWII experience in the Pacifc fighting as an Infantryman & Scott. Sylvester Wasz, received numerous medals for his heroics to include the combat infantry Badge, Bronze star with 3 oak leaf clusters & a purple heart (wounded in action on  (Okinawa) on 4/18/1945 (same day as Ernie Pyle, same Island (8 miles long). Same Island.
Served in the same unit (exact) with Medal of Honor winner Desmond Doss --- Movie made in 2016 called “Hacksaw Ridge” 77th Infantry Division, 307th Infantry, 307 Medical (When his father was wounded he told Joe one of the Medics pulled him to safety under fire, never knew who that might be.  He was wounded about 2 days prior to what had happened on Hacksaw Ridge. 
A point Joe talked  about during the interview was that he feels his father fought his entire life with PTSD, but back in the era his father lived there was no real diagnosis and he suffered with it for the rest of his life. 
Schedule of discussion in Podcast. 
3:23  - Joe talking about why he joined the Army
07:48 - Back to Basic Training Story
17:24 - Arrival to Germany
20:10 - Arrival to Unit
23:00 - Talk about 155 & Lineage 
27:56 - FDC
30:04 - One of Joe’s fond memories.  
32:05 - Two Traumatic Events 
40:13 - NATO 
41:30 - What one lesson did you learn to pass along to your family?
48:59 - What medals or awards did you receive?
50:30 - What Memory sticks to you the most?
51:30 - Final Days in the Army
56:59 - What does your career look like today?
59:21 - Joe talking about his father & his time in WWII
1:06:54 - Joe talking about Desmond Doss 
1:13:05 - Closing Remarks

WWII Combat Paratrooper - It is my honor to share this story with you about Darrell G. Harris. He was one of the first paratroopers in the American history of the Airborne and also one of the first awardees of the CIB badge (Combat Infantry Badge).  
Below is a snippet from the comments provided to me by Fred Castaneda from the Podcast Reporter.  Fred is an 82nd Airborne Vietnam Combat Veteran who along with his comrades was deployed to Vietnam.to fight. Fred is also a veteran podcast report with over 14 years of podcasting.  
Fred thank you for sharing your story about Darrell G. Harris. 
Darrell G Harris, who was a WWII Airborne paratrooper and combat infantryman demo man with 3 combat jumps (Sicily, Salerno and Holland), as well as a beach landing at Anzio. This episode talks about his experiences in WWII with the 82nd Abn Div. 

Retired LTC David McPherson was an Army Reserve Officer and served over 20 years of service.  The stories will hear revolves primarily around a three year period from August 2005 until 2008.  You will also hear about how his decision to join the service, his family and his on and off duties as a US Army Reserve Officer. 
The U.S. Army Reserve is for those that want to make a difference performing critical Army jobs while serving part time, close to home, while gaining an edge in their civilian careers. use their civilian and military training to safeguard the nation's data and develop secure communications technologies.
David played a critical role in both of the  major operations around Hurricane Katrina (Operation Evacuee & Debris), at the same time he was a VP of technology for a local university, a husband, father and son in which he supported all of them during his duties around the Hurricane.  Hurricane_Katrina
At the 38 minutes and 26 seconds  you are going to hear how David’s unit supported operations in Afghanistan through a retrofit process and how it affected his soldiers that had experienced it.  One unit coming through had lost 105 men in battle in the previous month and David talks about how it affected them how Chaplan stood up for the warriors even to the point of swearing, which I had to bleep...ha ha. 
Being an enlisted soldier I got a kick out of David’s run-in with the 3rd Army (CSM) Sergeant Major in the dining facility.  You will hear this story at 42 minutes and 54 Seconds into the episode.