Veterans Chronicles Radio America

In this second half of our interview with retired U.S. Navy SEAL Mark Greene, we will focus on Lt. Greene's deployments - first to Iraq and then to Afghanistan.And he discusses his work helping veterans transition from the military back into civilian life.

Greene shares what sound was so common in Iraq that it served as an alarm clock just about every day. He also details the role his SEAL team played on that deployment.

Greene also takes us along on multiple deployments to Afghanistan. He explains why he really couldn't put his sniper skills to use there and what it was like operating in Afghan villages. He also tells us about the firefight there that he describes as "mayhem."

Finally, Greene tells us about his very difficult transition to civilian life, what helped to set him on the right path, and how he is helping other veterans thrive after leaving the military.

Mark Greene grew up in a military family but his dream was to play quarterback. And he was doing well until an injury suddenly ended his career in college. After half-heartedly (at best) trying to finish college and taking other jobs, he and a friend joined the U.S. Navy with dreams of becoming Navy SEALs.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Lt. Greene discusses how he wound up in the Navy, how he struggled mightily to meet the qualifications to attend BUD/s training, and the physical and mental challenges of the six month gauntlet of becoming a SEAL.

Greene also takes us with him to sniper school - from the random way he got the assignment to the very high standards required to pass to the teamwork and quick calculations that sniper teams go through in training and in combat.

You'll also hear how Greene was almost killed by falling off Navy ships on two different occasions and the unexpected challenges he faced when trying to become an officer.

This is the first of two episodes featuring Lt. Greene. Please listen next week when we discuss his deployments to Iraq & Afghanistan and the work he does helping servicemembers transition from military to civilian life.

Jake Larson joined the U.S. Army National Guard in 1938 in order to earn money and help his family during the Great Depression. He was just 15 years old. By late 1941, he was preparing to leave the service. After Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, the Army required him to stay. By 1942, he was in England helping to train American forces assigned for invasions in North Africa and in the European theater. Finally, Larson himself was part of an invasion - the largest amphibious assault in history - the D-Day invasion in Normandy.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Larson details his top secret work on the D-Day invasion olans long before most troops knew what was coming. He also shares tremendous detail about coming ashore at Omaha Beach, being under fire from German machine guns, and how he made it up the bluffs.

Larson also chronicles several close calls at Omaha Beach, including how a very unwelcome assignment likely saved his life. And he does his best to convey what the invasion sounded like that day.

Finally, at age 101, Larson discusses the responsibility he feels as one of the final D-Day survivors to tell his story, the stories of the men who never made it homr, and the stories of the veterans who have passed on.

Raul "Art" Sifuentes was born in Michigan and knew he wanted to be a U.S. Marine when he watched John Wayne in "The Sands of Iwo Jima" when he was just 11 years old. At age 17, while still in high school, Sifuentes enlisted in Marine Reserves and went on active duty after graduation. He left the Corps after three years and attended college.

After receiving his undergraduate degree, Sifuentes planned to pursue a Masters degree, but a meeting with a Marine officer selection official changed all that. Soon, we was off to flight school to learn how to fly helicopters. Shortly after that, he was off for the first of three tours in Vietnam.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Sifuentes takes us through flight training, the wide variety of missions he flew in Vietnam, including many in hot zones to extract reconaissance teams or wounded service members. He also details the work on his third tour in helping to remove mines from Haiphong Harbor and discusses the horrible treatment our troops received from Americans when they returned home.

Finally, Sifuentes details his rewarding work with the Iwo Jima Association and why he is forever grateful to have served in the U.S. Marine Corps.

On Monday, Americans will pause for Memorial Day and honor the service and sacrifice of those gave what President Lincoln called their last full measure of devotion. And the reason we are often able to remember the fallen is because those who died had a friend who lived to tell the story.

That is certainly case for Don Mates and his great friend, Jimmy Trimble, a highly promising pitcher who delayed a Major League career to serve his nation in uniform.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mates describes the lifelong bond he formed with other Marines in training. He also shares a vivid, detailed account of being seriously wounded by a series of Japanese grenade attacks in the foxhole he shared with Trimble - and the sucide attack from a Japanese solder that followed.

Finally, Mates explains why he spent so much time over the remainder of his life telling people about Jimmy Trimble and their friendship and how it forever changed his life.

It's a powerful story that exemplifies the cost of freedom and the commitment to forever honor our fallen heroes.

James Finn ended up in the U.S. Navy because he didn't want to join the Army and promised his parents he would not join the Marines. Soon he was training to be a bomber pilot and eventually deployed to the Pacific theater.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Mr. Finn tells us about flying the single engine TBF and TBM Avengers as part of a three-man crew, dropping bombs over Iwo Jima, Okinawa, Chi Chi Jima, French IndoChina and even in Burma.

Finn describes the challenge of taking off and landing on aircraft carriers and the ferocity of the Japanese air defenses. He also shares his memories of being aboard the USS Franklin aircraft carrier in October 1944 , when it was disabled by a Japanese kamikaze attack, returning to action aboard the USS Hornet, and how he heard the war was over.