Playlist: Honoring Memorial Day
Compiled By: StoryCorps
Memorial Day gives us an opportunity to remember those who have died while serving in the U.S. military. We’ve put together a collection of Military Voices Initiative stories from veterans, service members, and their loved ones to help us reflect on their lives, contributions, and sacrifices.
StoryCorps: George Rincon and Yolanda Reyes
From StoryCorps | 04:23
At the beginning of the Iraq War, nearly 40,000 members of the United States military were not citizens. Army Private First Class Diego Rincon was one of them. As a child, he had immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia with his family. He he always known he wanted to join the military, and at 19, he enlisted in the Army. Diego was deployed to Iraq in March 2003, at the beginning of the war. Just 11 days in, he was killed by a suicide bomber. Diego received U.S. citizenship on April 10, 2003--the day of his funeral. His parents, George Rincon and Yolanda Reyes, came to StoryCorps to remember him.
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At the beginning of the Iraq War, nearly 40,000 members of the United States military were not citizens. Army Private First Class Diego Rincon was one of them. As a child, he had immigrated to the U.S. from Colombia with his family. He he always known he wanted to join the military, and at 19, he enlisted in the Army. Diego was deployed to Iraq in March 2003, at the beginning of the war. Just 11 days in, he was killed by a suicide bomber. Diego received U.S. citizenship on April 10, 2003--the day of his funeral. His parents, George Rincon and Yolanda Reyes, came to StoryCorps to remember him.
StoryCorps MVI: Travis Williams
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 03:14
Iraq war Veteran Travis Williams, sole survivor of his 12-man squad, remembers the explosion that took his 11 teammates.
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Lance Corporal Travis Williams is a veteran of the Iraq war.
On August 3, 2005, Williams’ squad had been sent on a rescue mission in Barwana. He was the only member of his 12-man squad to survive.
At StoryCorps, Williams remembered what happened that day.
StoryCorps MVI: Randy and Judy Pilgrim
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:53
Judy and Randy Pilgrim remember their son and Iraq war veteran, Army Specialist Lance Pilgrim.
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Specialist Lance Pilgrim was among the first Army troops to enter Iraq in March 2003.
Afterwards, he was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress.
When his parents — Judy and Randy Pilgrim — sat down for StoryCorps, they remembered their son’s four-year long struggle to leave the war behind.
StoryCorps MVI: Justin and Deanne Cliburn
From StoryCorps | 02:36
Army National Guard Specialist Justin Cliburn tells his wife, Deanne, about Ali, the young Iraqi he befriended during his service in Iraq.
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Specialist Justin Cliburn deployed to Iraq in 2005 with the Oklahoma Army National Guard. His job was to train the Iraqi police in Baghdad.
When he sat down for StoryCorps with his wife, Deanne, he told her about his friendship with a young Iraqi boy named Ali.
StoryCorps MVI: Robert Stokely
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:23
Robert Stokely remembers honoring his son, Army Sgt. Michael Stokely, who was killed in Iraq in 2005.
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Robert Stokely’s son, Sergeant Michael Stokely, enlisted in the Georgia Army National Guard straight out of high school.
He deployed to Iraq in 2005, where he was killed by a roadside bomb.
At StoryCorps, Robert talked about paying tribute to his fallen son.
StoryCorps MVI: Tracy Johnson and Sandra Johnson
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:59
Tracy Johnson and her mother in-law, Sandra Johnson, talk about the death of their wife and daughter, Army Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson.
Staff Sergeant Tracy Johnson is an Iraq veteran and an Army widow.
She is also believed to be the first gay spouse to lose her partner at war since the repeal of Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.
She married her long-time partner, Staff Sergeant Donna Johnson, on Valentines day in 2012.
In October, Donna was killed by a suicide bomber while serving in Khost, Afghanistan.
At StoryCorps, Tracy talked with her mother-in-law, Sandra Johnson, about finding out that their wife and daughter wasn’t coming home.
StoryCorps MVI: Lynn Chapman and Keith Chapman
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 03:46
Keith Chapman sits down with his mother, Lynn Chapman, to remember his brother, Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, the first American soldier to be killed in combat during the War in Afghanistan.
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Keith Chapman sits down with his mother, Lynn Chapman, to remember his brother, Sgt. 1st Class Nathan Ross Chapman, the first American soldier to be killed in combat during the War in Afghanistan.
StoryCorps MVI: Jenna Henderson and Laurie Laychak
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:32
Jenna Henderson came to StoryCorps to remember her husband, Army Sgt. First Class Chris Henderson, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2007.
On June 17, 2007, Army Sgt. First Class Chris Henderson and two other soldiers were killed when an improvised explosive device detonated near their Humvee in Afghanistan.
Chris enlisted in the Army during his senior year of high school, and soon after graduating in June 1991; he went off to boot camp. He spent more than 15 years in the military serving tours of duty in Bosnia and Kosovo, and was still in uniform when the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, occurred.
A month later, in October 2001, Operation Enduring Freedom began and in January 2007, Chris was deployed to the Kandahar Province in Afghanistan where he was part of a team working to help train Afghan National Army forces. Chris was killed on Father’s Day of that year; he was 35 years old. He is survived by his wife, Jenna Henderson, and his 8-year-old daughter, Kayley.
Jenna and Chris met while in their 20s and had been married for seven years before he was killed. The family lived together in Fort Lewis, Washington, where Chris was based. He was a loving husband and a devoted father, and Jenna says, a total goofball. She remembers coming home to find Chris and 18-month-old Kayley in their bathing suits playing in mud puddles or riding on Chris’ motorcycle. The two were inseparable.
Now 18, Kayley bears a striking resemblance to her father. “When she’s upset, her little eyebrow twitches,” says Jenna, “And when she smiles, she’s kind of got that little crooked smile he had.” She has even participated in Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) at her high school and is hoping to soon get her motorcycle license.
Jenna still misses Chris terribly and holds on to one of the last letters she received from him. “In it he said, how much he loved me and how he was glad that he had married me, and that he wouldn’t have changed that for the world.”
Jenna came to StoryCorps with Laurie Laychak (left), a mentor she met through the Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS)--an organization that offers compassionate care to those grieving the death of a loved one serving in the Armed Forces--to share memories of Chris.
Originally aired September 3, 2016, on NPR’s Weekend Edition Saturday.
StoryCorps: Max Voelz
From StoryCorps | Part of the StoryCorps series | 02:34
Retired Sgt. 1st Class Max Voelz remembers his wife, Staff Sgt. Kimberly Voelz, who died in Iraq while disarming an IED.
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In 2003, Staff Sgts. Kimberly Voelz and her husband, Max, were serving in Iraq. Both were members of Explosive Ordnance Disposal -- the Army's elite bomb squad.
Here, Max remembers his wife, Kimberly, who died in Iraq while disarming an IED.