Ask A Vet Podcast

Curious Humanography

Ask A Vet Podcast is a long-form conversation where veterans share their service experiences in their own words, with respect and control over what they choose to talk about.

  1. What They Never Told You About Being a Combat Flight Nurse in Vietnam

    4H AGO

    What They Never Told You About Being a Combat Flight Nurse in Vietnam

    She was 21 years old, a Johns Hopkins-trained nurse, and she had no idea what was about to walk off that plane. In Episode 39 of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Deanna Halterman Savage — Air Force flight nurse, Vietnam-era veteran, and one of the most remarkable women you'll ever hear from. Deanna flew medevac missions out of Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines, transporting wounded soldiers from the battlefields of Vietnam back to the United States. Two nurses. Two corpsmen. No doctors. Dozens of critically wounded men, many of them teenagers. She talks about the moment 35 young amputees stepped off a plane and changed everything she thought she knew about nursing. About flying through the night with burn patients whose dressings dried at altitude. About bringing boys home to a country that didn't want to acknowledge them. And about carrying all of it quietly for decades…until she couldn't anymore. This is a story about service, sacrifice, and what it really costs to care. 🎙️ Subscribe so you never miss an episode of Ask A Vet.

    1h 18m
  2. EP 38: What They Don't Tell You About Serving in the Korean War

    5D AGO

    EP 38: What They Don't Tell You About Serving in the Korean War

    Richard Colborn was 18 years old when the Air Force made him a shift supervisor in a classified military communications center in the middle of the Korean War. Born in 1933 in rural southwestern Pennsylvania, Richard joined the Air Force in 1951 with no expectation of ending up in a war zone. He ended up at Kimpo Air Base, just 20 miles outside a bombed-out Seoul, running teletype operations that sent classified messages across the globe, six hours on and twelve hours off, seven days a week. In this episode, he opens up about what Korea actually looked, sounded, and felt like from the inside — the distant flash of artillery visible from the base, the North Korean planes dropping grenades from above like a nuisance rather than a threat, hitchhiking through a live war zone on his time off to visit a cousin, and the Korean houseboy named Lee whose family living in a lean-to against a bombed-out factory wall quietly showed Richard what the war was really doing to an entire people. After Korea, Richard's story keeps going: Andrews Air Force Base, a transfer to French Morocco that his base doctor essentially prescribed, R&R in Rome and Madrid, and a post-military career with Westinghouse Electric that took him to Istanbul, Cairo, Chicago, and beyond. CHAPTERS 01:45  Growing Up in Rural Pennsylvania and the Decision to Enlist 03:30  Joining the Air Force in 1951  04:45  Boot Camp & Leadership 06:00  Shipping Out: California to Seattle to Yokohama by Boat 08:30  Landing in Korea — A Bombed-Out Seoul at Night 10:00  Life at Kimpo Air Base: Huts, Pot-Bellied Stoves, and F-86s 11:30  Running a Classified Comm Center at 18 Years Old 13:30  The "Bombing" That Wasn't — North Korean Piper Cubs and Grenade Runs 15:00  The Korean Houseboy Named Lee — The Human Side of the War 17:30  Hitchhiking Through a War Zone to Visit His Cousin 19:30  R&R in Tokyo: Elevated Trains and Chicken 21:00  Watching the Armistice Negotiations from the Base 22:30  Coming Home Under the Bay Bridge Into San Francisco 24:00  Andrews Air Force Base and Two Promotions 26:00  A Doctor's Prescription: "You Need a Change of Venue" 27:30  French Morocco: Bombers, Tangier, and R&R in Rome and Madrid 30:30  Discharge in New York and Back to Civilian Life 31:30  Indiana Tech, Electrical Engineering, and Westinghouse Electric 34:00  A Career That Took Him to Turkey, Cairo, Chicago, and Beyond 38:00  Cairo, His Wife, and the Telegram That Changed Everything 39:30  What Korea Taught Him ───────────────────────────────────────── 🎖️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. ✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Every flight is free to veterans and made possible by generous donors. Learn more or support the mission at utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org. 💼 If you or someone you know isn't getting the VA benefits you've earned, click the link in our description. We've teamed up with a group of experts that help veterans build stronger VA claims and get the benefits they deserve. Click the link for a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

    41 min
  3. EP 37: What They Don't Tell You About Getting Shot Down Over Vietnam

    MAY 5

    EP 37: What They Don't Tell You About Getting Shot Down Over Vietnam

    Paul Huber grew up in Mesa, Arizona, the son of an Army Air Corps officer, and went on to fly 220 combat missions in an F-4 Phantom during the Vietnam War. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul takes us inside the cockpit — from jungle survival school in the Philippines, to night bombing runs over the DMZ, to the morning in March 1968 when his aircraft was hit over Laos and he had to eject into the jungle. Paul shares what it was really like to fly one of the most iconic aircraft of the Vietnam era, what he was thinking as he floated down through the jungle canopy, and how he called his wife from a command post phone just hours after being shot down. He also reflects on his post-Vietnam career as an instructor pilot, his time flying F-111s in England during the Cold War, and what 23 years of service ultimately taught him about America.Subscribe so you never miss an episode. ⏱️ EPISODE CHAPTERS 1:30 – Growing up in Arizona & deciding to fly 4:00 – ROTC, Arizona State & getting commissioned 6:30 – F-4 Phantom training 11:00 – Jungle survival school in the Philippines 14:00 – Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam 17:30 – Night bombing missions over the DMZ 22:00 – What it was like to drop napalm and fly close air support 27:00 – Getting shot down over Laos 33:00 – The ejection, the jungle, and the rescue 39:00 – Calling his wife hours after being shot down 42:00 – R&R in Hawaii with his family 46:00 – Returning to fly after being shot down 48:30 – Distinguished Flying Cross & 220 combat missions 52:00 – Life as an instructor pilot in Texas 58:00 – Flying F-111s in England during the Cold War 1:13:00 – The meaconing incident: nearly lured into East Germany 1:16:00 – Final years, ROTC command at Utah State & retirement 1:26:00 – Reflections on Vietnam and what service meant If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com. 🎖️ Curious Humanography is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, helping veterans visit memorials built in their honor. To learn more or support their mission, visit UtahHonorFlight.org and honorflight.org.If this story moved you, please consider liking, commenting, and subscribing — it helps us continue sharing stories that deserve to be heard.

    1h 27m
  4. What They Don't Tell You About Combat Search & Rescue in Vietnam

    APR 30

    What They Don't Tell You About Combat Search & Rescue in Vietnam

    Dick Van Allen dreamed of flying from the moment a B-24 roared over his small Ohio town when he was seven years old. What followed was a lifetime of aviation:  from propeller trainers in Georgia to jet fighters in Alabama, from combat rescue helicopters over Vietnam to a dam disaster in Idaho. In this episode, Dick takes us through it all: the engine failures in training, arriving in Vietnam to discover he was the only pilot on his base, flying 300+ days of combat, nearly being hit by falling flare parachutes while hovering over a crash in the dark, and the civilian rescues that gave him just as much satisfaction as the military ones. Dick served in the United States Air Force, flying multiple tours in Vietnam with the 20th Special Operations Squadron — the Green Hornets — and later as a combat rescue pilot flying on three-minute alert. He logged over 6,500 hours in the Huey alone and performed roughly 75 civilian rescues after his military career, including responding to the collapse of Teton Dam. If this episode moved you, please subscribe, leave a comment, and share it with someone who should hear this story. CHAPTERS: 0:01:30 – Growing Up in Willard, Ohio: A Seven-Year-Old Decides to Fly 0:11:00 – Propeller Training, the T-28, and Engine Failures Over the Okefenokee 0:17:00 – First Jet Flight — Five Minutes of Pure Chaos 0:22:00 – Formation Flying, G-Force Blackouts, and Close Calls 0:29:00 – Choosing Helicopters Over the B-47 Back Seat 0:36:00 – Helicopter School: Igor Sikorsky Said We Were Crazy 0:41:00 – The Huey, SAC, and Moving Seven Times in Seven Years 0:44:00 – Volunteering for Vietnam: The 20th SOS Green Hornets (1966) 0:47:00 – Jungle Survival School and Arriving at Cam Ranh Bay 0:53:00 – General Ryan and the Island Assignment 0:57:00 – First Mission: Finding a Downed F-4 by a Dead Tree 1:03:00 – Arriving at Takhli: The Only Pilot on the Base 1:08:00 – Drying the Softball Field and Other Unusual Missions 1:12:00 – Supporting President Johnson in Bangkok 1:17:00 – Back to Shepherd: Training the F Troop Gunship Crews 1:20:00 – Second Tour: Return to Thailand, Evacuation Planning That Never Started 1:24:00 – The Scariest Night: C-141 Crash, Hovering in Jet Fuel and Falling Flares 1:29:00 – Flying Asleep: Eight Scrambles in One Night 1:35:00 – Combat Rescues, Hot LZs, and Fake Beacons 1:41:00 – MAST Unit at Hill AFB and the Teton Dam Disaster 1:50:00 – 19 Years of Helicopter Flying: What It All Meant 1:53:00 – Closing Thoughts & Reflections  ──────────────────────────── 🎙️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. 🤝 Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight — part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. Learn more or donate: utahonorflight.org 📋 Not getting the VA benefits you've earned? Click the link below — we've partnered with experts who help veterans build stronger claims and get the benefits they deserve. Free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. 📲 Subscribe | Like | Comment | Share — Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. #AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #MilitaryPodcast #CombatRescue #HelicopterPilot #VietnamWar #VeteranStories #HonorFlight #UtahHonorFlight

    1h 53m
  5. What They Don’t Tell You About Surviving Desert Storm as a MP

    APR 26

    What They Don’t Tell You About Surviving Desert Storm as a MP

    From Florida kid to Desert Storm MP, Jesse Clifton's story is one of quiet duty, unshakable instinct, and a lifetime spent protecting others. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Jesse walks us through joining the Army as a Military Policeman, deploying to the Philippines in 1986, keeping the peace after Hurricane Hugo, conducting secretive security operations in Honduras, and finally heading to Saudi Arabia for Desert Shield and Desert Storm — where he manned an M60 from a Humvee turret, managed dozens of Iraqi POWs solo, and came within inches of an international incident at a desert checkpoint. After coming home, Jesse faced the quieter battles: a son who didn't recognize him, fellow veterans losing businesses and families, and the long shadow of invisible wounds. He eventually channeled every one of those experiences into a career in home health care — now spending his days listening to and advocating for aging veterans who need someone in their corner. This is an honest, unfiltered conversation about service, sacrifice, and what it really means to "protect and serve." EPISODE CHAPTERS: 01:45 – Growing Up in a Service Family & Deciding to Enlist 04:30 – Basic Training at Fort McClellan, Alabama 08:00 – MOS School & Becoming a Military Policeman 10:00 – Deployment to the Philippines (1986) | Guard Duty & Special Reactions Team 15:00 – Hurricane Hugo Disaster Relief | Charlotte, NC 17:30 – Border Operations in California | Watching, Not Acting 19:00 – Honduras | Security for Special Operations 20:30 – Desert Shield / Desert Storm | Arriving in Saudi Arabia 25:00 – MREs, Food in the Desert & Keeping Morale Up 28:00 – Crossing Into Combat | Convoy Escort & Manning the M60 30:00 – Managing Iraqi POWs | Compassion Under Pressure 33:00 – The Checkpoint Incident That Almost Became International 35:00 – Sandstorms, Scorpion Wars & Surviving the Monotony 37:30 – The Hardest Part: Coming Home 43:30 – Reflections on Service & Advice for Veterans If you or a Veteran you know has a story that should be heard, we'd love to hear from you at humanographyproject@gmail.com.  👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link.

    49 min
  6. EP 34: What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat Medic in Vietnam

    APR 21

    EP 34: What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat Medic in Vietnam

    What does it really cost to serve? In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Patrick Dillon — a Hell's Kitchen-born, Irish-immigrant-raised combat medic who volunteered for the U.S. Army the day after his draft number was called. What followed was a lifetime defined by war, service, survival, and an unrelenting drive to help others. Patrick shares the raw, unfiltered story of serving as a 91B Combat Medic with the 498th Army Air Force: flying surgical C-130 missions to recover the wounded as the Vietnam Peace Treaty was being signed, performing emergency C-sections in the jungle, carrying out acts of mercy no one talks about, and coming home to rejection, shame, and silence. His story doesn't end in Vietnam. It continues through the Irish Troubles, the Peace Corps in Southeast Asia, the crack baby crisis in Harlem, Somalia, Kosovo, Ground Zero on 9/11, Iraq before the bombs fell, Hurricane Katrina, the Haiti earthquake, and COVID-19. Patrick is also an artist, screenwriter, and filmmaker whose work has been shaped, and sometimes defined, by everything he witnessed.  Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. 🎙️ If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. 👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. ✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. To learn more or donate, visit utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org. EPISODE CHAPTERS: 00:52 – Growing Up in Hell's Kitchen 09:00 – The Draft Lottery Night  14:00 – Volunteering & Becoming a Combat Medic  19:30 – Arriving in Okinawa: Stump Duty  22:00 – Flying Surgical Missions Over Vietnam  28:00 – Coming Home: San Francisco Airport  35:00 – The Peace Corps & Saigon Falling  43:00 – Somalia, Kosovo & Haiti  01:08:00 – Hitting Rock Bottom & Getting Sober  01:14:00 – The Babies of Harlem Hospital  01:40:00 – PTSD, Art & Finding a Reason to Stay

    2h 20m
  7. What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat MP in 1971 Vietnam

    APR 14

    What They Don't Tell You About Being a Combat MP in 1971 Vietnam

    Paul Colliton grew up on Long Island in a military family, named after a B-24 bomber pilot who never came home. He was drinking since age six, working on Wall Street at 18, and heading to Harlem for drugs by noon. Then the draft letter arrived. In this episode of Ask A Vet, Paul shares what it was really like to become a Military Police officer in Vietnam in 1971. From being pulled out of basic training and told he had the highest IQ on base, to patrolling the city of Hue at 19 years old with zero instructions, to coming face to face with 15 enemy soldiers at twilight and choosing not to fire. He talks openly about heroin addiction in-country, racial tension on base, the 15-year-old Vietnamese girl he couldn't save, a gut-wrenching Dear John letter, and hitchhiking home from JFK in his dress greens after being spit on. But Paul's story doesn't end in Vietnam. It winds through a near-jump from a 31st-floor balcony, 39 years of sobriety, a chance encounter with Muhammad Ali, and the adoption of his autistic son Billy.  EPISODE CHAPTERS: 01:45 Paul's Background & Getting Drafted 09:00 Basic Training, MP School & Heading to Vietnam 19:00 The Flight Over: Engine Falls Off Over Alaska 21:00 Arriving In-Country: Cameron Bay, Da Nang & Hue 27:30 Life on Patrol: Drugs, Racial Tension & the Enemy Up Close 35:00 The Hardest Moment of the War 49:30 Refusing an Order, Getting Busted & Coming Home 1:01:00 The Welcome Home: JFK Airport & a Punch in the Face 1:05:00 Europe & Building a Photography Career 1:29:00 Rehab, AA & Starting Over at 36 1:37:00 Photographing Muhammad Ali & a Moment They Both Cried 1:47:00 Adopting Billy 2:18:30 Final Reflections: What Vietnam Made Him 🎙️ Ask A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. If you believe these stories matter, please subscribe, like, comment, and share. Your support helps us preserve the voices of those who served. 👉 If you’re a Veteran struggling with VA benefits, click this link to schedule a free consultation: https://crm.zoho.com/bookings/YourFreeConsultationwithAskaVetMedGroup?rid=e9b38e78cb91065c1fe320a7ded78fbd8bba8f49d0461551777fc2994529c25a57fa5b8c5b5a0967c3c2b0d295b2b223gid8b25e599eed0bfe92c1438b980632c02b6ed9488ec5e11f8c6677be7ffc43cec Disclosure: This is a referral partnership with American Medical Experts. We may receive compensation if you book through our link. ✈️ Ask A Vet is proud to partner with Utah Honor Flight, part of the National Honor Flight Network — giving veterans a free trip to Washington D.C. to visit the memorials built in their honor. To learn more or donate, visit utahonorflight.org or find your local hub at honorflight.org.

    2h 29m
  8. What They Don't Tell You About Stepping on a Landmine in Vietnam

    APR 7

    What They Don't Tell You About Stepping on a Landmine in Vietnam

    In this episode of Ask A Vet, we sit down with Dwight Moss, a Marine veteran who joined at 19, served in Vietnam in 1966, and survived what most men didn't. From watching his buddy get shot in a rice paddy, to nearly drowning on a river crossing, to stepping on a Bouncing Betty landmine that cut him from ankle to chest — Dwight's story is as raw and honest as they come. He also shares a remarkable out-of-body experience during a near-fatal bout of malaria, and what that moment meant for his faith, his life, and how he sees death itself. Now 80 years old, VFW Chaplain, Ironman-distance athlete, and soon-to-be published author, Dwight reflects on survival, forgiveness, and what he believes he owes to the men who didn't come home. EPISODE CHAPTERS 2:00 — Dwight's Background: Born in Murphy, NC / Joining the Marines at 19 7:00 — Leaving for Vietnam 9:00 — Arriving in Da Nang, 1966 11:00 — Life on Outpost: Sea Rations, Tony Vargas & Surviving Together 24:00 — Near-Death #1: Almost Drowning in a River 27:00 — The DMZ Mission: Every Man Dead 31:00 — Breaking Down with Malaria (106.2 Fever) 35:00 — Near-Death #2 & #3: Losing Vision + Leaving His Body 39:00 — Stepping on the Bouncing Betty Landmine 43:00 —Staying Calm While Bleeding Out 46:00 — Officers Sent to His Mom's House Before They Knew He'd Survive 48:00 — Helicoptered to Da Nang / The Flight Home Through the Philippines & Alaska 51:00 — Recovery: Botched Skin Grafts, Nerve Damage & Learning to Walk Again 54:00 — Swimming Back to Life: Ironman Distances After a Landmine 59:00 — Heart Issues at 80 / "Do What You Can Do Today" 1:02:00 — Dealing With the Trauma of What He Saw 1:04:00 — Becoming VFW Chaplain / Unconditional Forgiveness 1:07:00 — The Honor Flight to Washington D.C. 1:10:00 — Take Away From VietnamAsk A Vet is dedicated to documenting and preserving veterans' stories — in their own words, on their own terms, before their stories are gone forever. #AskAVet #VietnamVeteran #MarineCorps #LandmineSurvivor #VeteranStories #PTSD #HonorFlight #MilitaryPodcast #VietnamWar #BountyBetty

    1h 18m
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
5 Ratings

About

Ask A Vet Podcast is a long-form conversation where veterans share their service experiences in their own words, with respect and control over what they choose to talk about.

Information

  • Creator
    Curious Humanography
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    40
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Curious Humanography
  • Show Website
    Ask A Vet Podcast

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