Michael Linder

America’s combat veterans: Courage under fire — and beyond

As war drags on in Afghanistan and Iraq, America risks becoming complacent in acknowledging the extraordinary sacrifice of its armed forces — the 1.2 million who have died since the Revolutionary War in defense of the United States and the millions who’ve returned home since World War II, many still carrying the scars of their battles.

For them, it’s a story of promises made and promises broken: how America’s Department of Veterans Affairs, underfunded for years, now struggles under a backlog of nearly a million veterans in need of post-combat care, especially those coping with PTSD and traumatic brain injuries — the signature wound of America’s ongoing wars.

On Memorial Day, TalkRadio 790 KABC commissioned this documentary by Michael Linder, profiling America’s veterans for their bravery in combat, and their continuing plight once safely back on American soil.

Playback: Salute to America’s Veterans
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Beyond riveting war stories, “Memorial Day: A Salute to America’s Veterans” probes the motivation of the men and women who leave home and loved ones to take up arms in America’s defense — including a 20-year-old Marine recruit who explains his reasons for enlisting. Family members offer insight into, and the importance of, supporting members of the armed forces.

Among former troops featured in this documentary are three whose lives have been forever changed as a result of the valor they have given their nation.

Harry Kouri was a prisoner of war in WWII’s Pacific theater, a survivor of Bataan’s infamous Death March who tells how he escaped the unprecedented cruelty of Japanese troops. Yet nearly seven decades later Harry’s still haunted by its memories.

Eric Gutierrez served as an Army engineer in the Persian Gulf War. Today, he deals with post-traumatic stress disorder which affects some 40% of US combat veterans according the Shad Meshad founder of the National Veterans Foundation which has helped more than 250,000 veterans cope with post-war issues.

Jeremy Weismiller was a Staff Sergeant in the US Marine Corps until an undiagnosed injury in Afghanistan led to his becoming a partial paraplegic. He’s continued the fight for better treatment by America’s VA hospitals on behalf of veterans from all of America’s wars, joined in the efforts by U.S. Representative Bob Filner, Chairman of the House Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, also featured in this broadcast.

Produced in style of audio realism designed to transport listeners to the front lines of three wars, “Memorial Day: A Salute to America’s Veterans” won a Golden Mic Award as Best Radio Documentary of 2009.

Think Cure offers Cancer Hope
It may seem strange — how the Los Angeles Dodgers have linked baseball and bone marrow, line drives and leukemia. But the sport is all about heart and hope, and so are efforts to cure cancer at Childrens Hospital Los Angeles and City of Hope in Duarte.

For children or adults, these cutting-edge research and treatment facilities are aggressively pursuing cancer cures endowed in part by Think Cure, the Dodgers’ official charity.

In an eight-part series for TalkRadio 790 KABC, Michael Linder chronicles the latest breakthroughs in cancer research and therapies at CHLA and City of Hope. This segment profiles middle school kid Raoul Ochoa from Burbank who is making an exceptional comeback from acute myelogenous leukemia.

Playback: Think Cure
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The complete series, which won a Golden Mic as Best Radio Feature News Series Reporting, is available for download on request.

From the archives
KNX says goodbye to Columbia Square

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This was the final KNX broadcast from Columbia Square — August 21, 2005 — a finale for 67-years of radio history at the Hollywood broadcasting landmark. This 55-minute special documents the history of CBS’s Los Angeles headquarters from 1938 to 2005 when KNX moved to the CBS Broadcast Center on L.A.’s Miracle Mile.

The show features Bob Hope, Al Jolson, C.B. DeMille and CBS founder William Paley in excerpts from the grand opening broadcast. Jack Benny, Orson Welles and other radio stars are heard in clips from classic comedies and dramas.

Living legends who crafted shows in Radio’s Golden Age, including writer-producer Norman Corwin, tell inside stories while radio historian Leonard Maltin adds historical perspective. Also featured: the birth of all-news radio in Los Angeles and a pre-dawn ghost hunt that unearths Bob Crane, Jack Benny and Bill Paley in Columbia Square’s haunted halls.

Playback: Goodbye to Columbia Square
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